Golden Tigress
by AkaKage
Summary: Kidd found a new crew mate. She was interesting to say the least but unpredictable and she loves fighting. He has his hands full as she wont take orders and has seemingly no sense of danger. The marines want her dead because of her heritage and powers but on the plus side, she has some powerful allies such as the Whitebeard Pirates and the Dark King himself.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Kidd Pirates have landed on a new island in the Grand Line not that long ago and walked into a little bar to have a few drinks.

The island was pretty big, yet there was only one town on it as the rest of it was wooded areas.

They heard that the island was famous for it's vicious beasts and it wasn't advised for foreigners to enter the forests, unless they wanted to be ripped to shreds.

"Another rowdy bunch I see." the bartender, a middle aged blond chuckled from behind the bar.

"Do you have a problem?" Kidd asked glaring at him.

"None. I like people like you. It always makes for good entertainment. The name's Jet by the way." he grinned at the red head.

Kidd smirked and his men cheered.

"What's the big deal with the forest?" Killer asked curiously.

"It's inhabited with mutant animals, result of an experiment. Used to be a lab up there but it's long been shut down." he explained.

"Might check it out." Kidd grinned.

"Not you too. What don't you people understand about dangerous?" he asked with a sigh.

"Someone else went up there as well?" Killer asked.

"Yeah. A few days ago, a young woman arrived here and asked the same questions. She then left this little guy here and went into the forest. Haven't seen her for 3 days now." Jet explained gesturing to a golden lion tamarin(monkey). It was casually eating a banana with a belt around it's waist with a flintlock pistol and a bag of ammo strapped to it.

"That thing's with her?" Kidd asked looking it over.

"I think she said his name was Sid. He ate a Devil Fruit. She just left him here to watch her stuff." Jet said.

"Interesting. Who is she?" Killer asked but before the guy could reply, the door was knocked in by a pretty big golden tiger as it rolled towards the bar. Before it could crash into it, it's body was surrounded by white flames and shrunk. The flames died down and a woman was revealed in place of the tiger.

"Izumi. You're alive." Jet said surprised.

"Of course. Sid, this one's the hundredth." she said grinning at the monkey.

She was average height, well toned with tangerine orange hair that had a full white fringe and reached down to her mid back in layers, yellow eyes and she was covered in blood. She had tiger ears and a long white fluffy tail with orange stripes. She wore black skinny jeans with a dark red body hugging tank top, high-top black converse and a black long cardigan tied around her hips.

She wiped the blood from her mouth and walked towards the door. Before she could walk out, a giant bear with enormous claws walked in. It let our a loud roar as Izumi smirked and flattening her ears against her head, she let out a tiger's roar as well.

She ran at the bear and landed a kick to it's chest, sending it flying back outside. They could hear the fight and roaring from the two as Jet looked a little surprised at the bear.

"That was the woman?" Killer asked him.

"Yes. She's quite something." he said moving behind the counter as the monkey jumped behind it.

"What do you need little guy?" he asked Sid. He showed him some cards with words on it and he prepared the meal Sid asked for.

"Done. Hundred beasts of Yajuu Island defeated." Izumi walked back in grinning and sat down at one of the tables opposite the Kidd Pirates.

"That's unbelievable. How did you do it?" Jet asked as he put a plate of food and a glass of milk in front of her.

"Skills. Thanks for the food." she grinned and dug in as Sid jumped to the table and sat down in front of her. He started to talk to her in monkey.

"Lion . . . bear . . . rabbit . . . boar . . . adrenalin." she smirked at the last word. She was obviously talking to him and understood what he was asking and answered as he asked what she was fighting and why.

"I'm not exactly bleeding out. I don't need your nagging, I won't die that easily." she glared at him, finishing off her food and chugged the milk.

"Izumi. You can use one of the rooms upstairs to clean up. On the house as well as your food." Jet said grinning at her.

"Thanks old timer." she grinned and taking her black backpack from him, ran upstairs with Sid close behind.

"Kidd?" Killer asked with an eyebrow raised under his mask at the red head's expression.

"She's joining the crew." he grinned.

"She's promising." he agreed.

Up in one of the rooms, Izumi stripped and got in the shower. She let the warm water wash the blood from her body and hissed as her wounds ached. She had four claw marks on her left upper arm and right side ribs. She also had a lot of small cuts and a lot of bruising on her body.

She turned the water off and dried herself with a towel.

"That was fun. I need to write it down and spice it up a little." she chuckled and walked out of the bathroom, grabbing some clean clothes from her backpack. She pulled on a black pair of underwear, black shorts, red bikini top and put her converse back on.

'Come here and I'll wrap your wounds.' Sid said as she could understand him.

"They're not that serious." she frowned.

'They're deep enough.' he growled as she sat down on the bed beside him.

He wrapped up her arm and middle as best he could and all of the more serous cuts.

'Here.' he said and put the first aid kit back in her bag.

"Thanks." she smiled and tied her long black cardigan that had a hood around her hips again.

She dried her hair with a towel and cleaned up her mess. Grabbing her back pack, she lobbed it over her shoulders and Sid jumped on her back as they walked downstairs.

Izumi unwrapped and popped a lollipop in her mouth as they got to the table they were at before and she sat down with her back facing the pirates. Pulling out a book, she started to write in it.

"Who did those bandages? They're so messy." the Kidd Pirate's doctor, Heat said cringing at the sight.

"How long until the log pose sets?" Kidd asked Jet.

"About another few hours, counting from when you walked in here." he replied.

Izumi was engrossed in her writing when Sid said something to her and pulled the finished stick from her mouth.

'Eustass Kidd is looking at you. He's one of the new rookies. The most feared one I hear.' he said looking back at him.

"That so?" she asked smirking and hooked her right leg on the table, she then leaned back in her chair so she could see upside down. He looked her in the eyes as she stared back curiously.

She thought he looked pretty cool with the spiky red hair that was held up with his goggles, the furry coat and she noted how toned his body looked, even upside down. But what caught her eye the most was his tangerine orange eyes that seemed to pierce through her.

Sid then jumped on her chest and a look of panic flashed in her eyes as she fell backwards, crashing onto the floor.

"Damn it Sid. That hurt." she growled holding her side as she sat up, glaring at said monkey.

He made a lot of noises at her and she shot up with her tiger ears low.

"Take that back right fucking now." she growled annoyed.

'No. You were ogling him.' he said in monkey, repeating it amused. Before she could grab him, Sid grew and turned into a gorilla.

"Oh you wanna fight? Let's go!" she yelled grinning and sent a punch at him that he blocked.

'You're injured. Stop being so aggressive all the time.' he said unamused and grabbed her by the left wrist, lifting her in the air.

"It's just scratches. Fight me." she growled but couldn't get out of his grip as he grabbed her other wrist and held her up like that.

'You lost a lot of blood. Calm down.' he said as she was kicking her legs about.

"My blood loss is the least of your worries. Let go already. Sid!" she struggled.

"Guys. Not in here. You're injured. How long will you keep this up woman?" Jet frowned at the two as Sid let her down and she turned around with a huff. Sid turned back to his smaller monkey form and Kidd walked up to the two.

"Izumi right?" he asked grinning down at her.

"Yup. You're Eustass Kidd?" she asked, returning his grin.

"Join my crew." he suddenly said, taking her by surprise. Sid made a lot of noises at his request but Izumi shut him up with a glare.

"Alright. Why not?" she grinned. Sid jumped onto her back and pulled at her face angrily from behind.

"Ah don caaa wha yuu shink." (I don't care what you think.) she said with his hands still hooked on her mouth and he pulled at her cheek.

"Well, you're one weird woman." Kidd chuckled.

"Get off." she growled at Sid, throwing him at a table and turned back to Kidd.

"You're gonna show me around my new home or what?" she grinned up at him.

"Haha. This way." he laughed and led her to their ship after she grabbed all her stuff.

"Are you a Devil Fruit user?" he asked as they walked through the town.

"No. I'll tell you later but Sid is. He has a Zoan Fruit, a Gorilla." she said as said golden lion tamarin was sitting on her shoulder.

"Why does he have a gun?" Killer asked from her other side.

"Cause he can use it." she chuckled.

As Kidd looked at her a little closer, he could see that her skin had very faint golden stripes, like a tiger's stripes.

"This is it." Kidd said as they boarded the dark ship.

"Killer. Show her around then bring her to my room." he said and walked off, leaving her with the blond.

"I'm the first mate, so you will answer to me beside Kidd." he said as she saluted him, grinning.

He showed her the galley, infirmary, crew's cabins, the bathrooms, storage rooms and finally Kidd's room.

He knocked on the door and after they heard a 'come in' they entered.

"Sit and tell me what you are." Kidd called.

His room was quite big with an on suite, big double bed, closet, draws, table, chair, bookshelf and a couch in it.

She sat down on the couch as Kidd was sat by his desk and Killer just stood by the door as Sid jumped down beside her.

"First off, my name's Tora D Izumi." she said smiling at Kidd.

"I am the last of my tribe. I shouldn't let anyone know but since you are my captain now, I think you need to know." she said in thought.

"That's fucking right." Kidd said smirking.

"I was born on an island in the New World called Tama Island. It was located in the calm belt. The island's inhabitants were half feline by blood." she explained and tugged at her tiger ears to make a point.

"I am capable of shifting into a tiger as you saw earlier and the fire I did it with is under my control. It is nothing like a Logia ability or a Zoan. I can shift to any size tiger I want and my body can't turn to fire, I can only control it." she said holding her palm out as a ball of fire appeared.

"Impressive." Killer said smirking under his mask.

"What happened to your island? You were talking past tense." Kidd said, picking up on her words.

"It was destroyed 19 years ago by a Buster Call. The Government thought my people were too dangerous so they had them all killed. I was only able to survive because I was only a baby and a marine officer took pity on me. I don't know who he was but he took me in secret to an island called Ruby Lagoon in the Grand Line where I grew up and met Sid." she explained scratching behind his ears smiling.

"I see. How old are you?" Kidd asked curiously.

"20." she replied.

"Any skills?" Killer asked.

"I'm a writer, tattooist and I also sing a little every now and then." she grinned.

"Interesting. What do you write?" Killer asked.

"Whatever comes to mind usually. Short stories, my adventures and stuff like that." she smiled at him.

"Show me some." he said walking up to her.

"Okay." she grinned, digging her book out of her bag.

"Here." she handed it to him.

"You can leave now." Kidd said and Killer walked out with her.

"Do you want to meet the crew?" he asked.

"Yup. Can I ask a question though?" she smiled up at him.

"Sure." he replied.

"Why do you wear a mask? Can you show me your face?" she grinned up at him.

"It's personal and no." he frowned under his mask.

"Too bad." she chuckled as they made it back up on deck.

"This is Heat, our doctor." Killer said as they walked up to him.

"Hi. I'm Izumi. Love your hair and stitches." she said grinning up at him, which surprised him.

"Thanks. It's nice to meet you too. Let me re-wrap your wounds. Whoever did this, just failed." he said frowning at the bloody bandages.

"Hear that Sid. You're a failure." she said snickering at the monkey on her shoulder as it squeaked in protest.

"Come on." Heat said and dragged her back below deck and into his infirmary.

"Do you get injured a lot?" he asked grabbing some stuff.

"Yeah. You'll be seeing me here a lot." she said sticking her tongue out.

"Oh dear." he frowned and treated her wounds properly.

"How did you get these?" he asked wrapping her arm.

"I was fighting a hundred beasts." she grinned.

"From the island right? I heard that they were very dangerous." he said glancing up at her.

"It was fun to fight them. They just kept coming." she chuckled.

"Haha. A knack for danger, I see. Are you a Devil Fruit user?" he asked.

"Nope." she smirked.

"I should probably do a check up. Stay here." he said and walked off to grab some stuff including a clipboard.

"I will ask a few questions first and I want you to answer them honestly." he said as she nodded.

"Full name?" he asked.

"Tora D Izumi." she replied swinging her legs from the bed she was sitting on as they didn't reach the floor.

"Age and date of birth?" he asked after he recovered from the surprise of the 'D'.

"I'm 20 and was born October 31st." she grinned.

"Height and weight?" he asked and she told him an estimation as she didn't know the exact numbers.

"Any allergies or intolerances?" he asked.

"No allergies but I will kill a bitch if they feed me onion or kiwi." she frowned making him chuckle.

"I'll tell Jake that. He's our the chef." he said amused.

"Now for the physical." he said and put the stethoscope buds in his ear.

He placed the metal bit on her chest as she hissed from the cold and he listened for her heart. Making her turn around he checked her lungs as well.

He also checked her eyes, throat and ears.

"Can I ask what you are?" he asked and she told him about her powers.

"I think we're done here. You're perfectly healthy." he said smiling at her.

"Thanks Heat." she grinned and jumped up.

"No worries. You were meeting the crew right? Sorry I pulled you away." he said as he put her file in a filing cabinet and walked out with her.

"Don't worry. I got to talk to you." she smiled.

"Wire. Dude, wait up." Heat called as the tall guy turned around.

"Holy fuck you're tall." Izumi said with her ears sticking down.

"Little tiger girl." he smirked at her reaction.

"This is Izumi." Heat said. To be fair he was pretty tall as well.

"Hi. This is Sid." she said recovering quickly and gestured to the monkey on her shoulder who just waved.

"Nice to meet you." Wire smiled.

"Meeting the crew?" he asked.

"Yup." she grinned.

"Have fun." he grinned ruffling her hair.

Heat then took her to the galley, where Jake was preparing dinner.

"Jake. Come meet our new crew mate." Heat called as a man in his 30s stepped out of the kitchen. He was average height and thinner looking than most. He had messy long green hair that reached down to his mid back with sideburns and dull green eyes. He wore dark brown cargo trousers with a white t-shirt and a thin dark grey trench coat over it with the sleeves rolled up and he wore no shoes.

"I heard we got a newbie. So it's this little lady here?" he asked smirking at her.

"Hi I'm Izumi and this is Sid." she smiled back as Sid waved at him.

"And a monkey?" Jake raised an eyebrow.

"He's my best friend. Don't underestimate him." she smirked.

"That so?" he chuckled.

Heat then took her to the deck to meet the rest of the crew.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Izumi. We turned one of the storage rooms into a bedroom for you. Come, I'll show you where it is." Wire called as he walked up to her and Heat as they were talking up on deck.

"Thank you." she grinned and followed the tall man.

"It's near captain's room and one of the bathrooms." he said as he led her to it.

"Here we are." Wire smiled opening a door to a small room with a single bed, desk, chair and closet in it along with a lamp on the table.

"Thank you." she smiled walking in and dropped her bag on the bed as Sid jumped on it and flopped down.

"You can buy the stuff you may need on the next island." Wire said as she looked around.

"Okay. I like it. It's cosy." she grinned and poked a sleeping Sid.

"Let's leave him to rest." she whispered to Wire and closed the door behind them.

"So, where are you from?" he asked curiously.

"I was born in the New World but grew up here on an island called Ruby Lagoon." she said as they headed back up.

"That famous trading port near Sabaody?" he asked surprised.

"Yup." she giggled.

"How did you get all the way out here then?" he asked.

"I started travelling around just under a year ago. Seeing the world and looking for inspiration to write and living canvases to cover." she grinned.

"What do you mean?" Wire asked confused.

"I'm a writer and tattoo artist." Izumi smiled.

"That's awesome. We won't have to go to a shop anymore then. Some of the guys usually get new ones every now and then." he said grinning.

"Yeah, I just need the equipment and the inks." she chuckled.

"We can get that, just mention it to Killer or the captain." he replied.

"Got it." she said and jumped up to sit on the railing.

"Izumi." Killer called as he walked up to them.

"Hiya." she smiled at him.

"Did you meet everyone yet?" he asked.

"Yup. Pretty cool people." she grinned.

"I'm glad you like them. I came to talk to you about the cleaning rota. You have laundry duty every Wednesday, mop duty on Fridays and cleaning of the the storage rooms on Sundays." he said.

"Sure." she shrugged.

"Dinner!" came Jake's loud yell from below deck as everyone made their way to the galley.

Izumi followed Killer and Wire in and they pulled her to the biggest table, where Kidd, Heat and Jake sat at. They sat down and she took the last empty chair that was between Kidd and Heat.

"Did you get given a room yet?" Kidd asked looking at her.

"Yup. Wire already showed it to me. Sid immediately fell asleep on the bed." she said chuckling.

"What kind of foods do you like Izumi?" Jake asked smiling.

"Uhm. I eat anything really." she shrugged.

"Except for onion and kiwi." he chuckled.

"Don't remind me of my enemies. One day I will burn every single one of them until they perish, then I'd like to see them try to make me suffer." she said glaring into space with her ears sticking down, making them laugh at her strange outburst.

"You can't get rid of all of them. There's loads all over the world. It's impossible." Heat laughed.  
"Nothing's impossible. They said taming a hoard of crocodiles was impossible, yet there I was best friends with them. So don't tell me about impossible." she said smirking at him.

"Yeah but you can talk to them, can't you?" Wire asked chuckling.

"That's beside the point." she waved him off and started eating.

"Yummy." she grinned.

"I'm glad you like it." Jake smiled.

"Oh yeah, Kidd. I need to buy tattooing equipment and new clothes. I kinda ran out now, all of my old ones got ripped up in the fights I got into." she said looking up at him.

"Sure. You can get some at the next island." he nodded.

"Thanks." she grinned and finished eating.

"Thank you for the food. I'm going to grab a couple of fruits for Sid. He must be hungry by now." she said and walked into the kitchen with her dirty dishes.

Cleaning them, she left it on the side and grabbed a couple of bananas and apples.

"I'll be in my room if anyone wants something." she smiled at them and walked out.

She walked back and luckily found it without any trouble. She sat down on the bed beside the still sleeping Sid and placed the fruits beside her, she then shook him gently.

"Sid wake up, time for dinner." she smiled as he opened his teal eyes.

'Hi Zumi.' he said rubbing his eyes and let out a big yawn.

"I brought you food." she grinned gesturing to it as he happily grabbed a banana and started to eat it.

'So what have you been up to?' he asked, mouth full of food.

"Talked to the crew. They're interesting." she smiled.

'That's good. Considering we're gonna have to live with them from now on.' he nodded.

She waited for him to finish eating and they took his rubbish to the kitchen, then walked up to deck.

"I feel like taking a little nap. Beating those beasts took a lot out of me." she said stretching her arms.

'You were gone for 3 days. How did you get food and did you even sleep?' Sid asked unamused.

"I cooked what I killed and I didn't sleep." she simply said and turned into a huge golden tiger.

'Are you kidding me? You haven't slept for 3 days straight?!' Sid yelled alarmed.

"It's not a big deal. I'm insomniac anyway." she chuckled in her tiger form and laid down beside the railing.

'Sleep. Now.' he said and sat down beside her, keeping watch.

Some of the crew watched her amazed. She was a beautiful creature, human or tiger.

"She's sleeping on deck?" Kidd asked annoyed as he walked passed.

"From her conversation with Sid, I take it she didn't sleep at all while she was fighting those animals. For 3 days I think Jet said." Killer explained.

"She's insane." Kidd said looking her over.

"I like insane." he grinned and walked off.

Izumi slept peacefully for at least half an hour of smooth sailing, with Sid sleeping leaned on her side.

Her ears twitched, then again, the next time she opened her eyes and sat up in her tiger form still.

"You awake? That was a quick nap." Jake commented as he was sitting outside and noticed her.

She ignored him though and stood up, hoisted herself up onto her back legs with her front paws on the railing as she looked at the sea.

"Something wrong?" Killer asked noticing her behaviour as her ears kept twitching and she scanned the water with her eyes. This drew the attention of some of the others and Sid jumped onto the railing beside her.

'What do you hear?' he asked in monkey and she only replied with a low growl and jumped off, running to the other side of the ship. She walked back and forth for a while, confusing the others.

"What's up with her?" Wire asked and glanced at Sid.

With a sigh he did some hand signs and Wire chuckled.

"It's a sea king she can hear and wants to fight it." Wire informed them.

"You can understand him?" Heat asked shocked.

"He knows sign language. I understand that." he explained as Sid grinned happy that someone other than Izumi understood him.

Suddenly a giant sea king erupted from the water and Izumi let out a loud growl. It was huge and sort of piranha like.

Before anyone could do anything, Izumi jumped at it and blinded it with her claws.

"Izumi!" some of them yelled alarmed as it went underwater, taking her with it.

In a few moments, a little ways further away, the sea seemingly blew up and the sea king appeared again, this time with a human Izumi on top of it as she was thrown back onto the deck.

She chuckled, excitedly and ran up the mast to stand on top of the crow's nest.

"The fuck are you doing?!" Kidd yelled at her.

"Fighting! What does it fucking look like?" she yelled back grinning at him.

She watched the water as the sea king disappeared below them again. Reaching out her left arm and drew back her right in the positing of holding a bow, fire appeared in her hands as it morphed into a bow and an arrow.

As soon as the sea king popped it's head out of the water, Izumi let the fire arrow go and it hit it in the other eye, burning it's eye out, making it growl in pain and attack the ship. She jumped from the crows nest and landed a kick onto it's head, using gravity and her weight to her advantage.

The sea king cried out and threw her up in the air again. This time she didn't land on deck but in it's mouth instead and it disappeared underwater.

"Izumi!" they yelled again alarmed.

Sid did some hand signs again and Wire translated it.

"He said not to worry because Izumi can look after herself." he said.

They relaxed a little and watched the water for any signs of Izumi or the sea king. Then there was a giant explosion with white flames.

"That was her, right?" Heat asked scanning the water. Finally Izumi surfaced and started to swim towards the ship in her tiger form.

With a little struggle, she managed to climb back onto the ship and shook her body to get rid of the excess water in her fur.

"That was reckless. Next time attack it from here!" Kidd growled annoyed.

"It's dead. What's the difference?" she asked.

"It ate you." he argued.

"It's not how you do it but the end result that matters." she huffed and started to walk off.

"Don't walk away from me! And turn back to human!" he yelled after her.

"No." she said glaring at him with her tiger eyes.

"And why the fuck not?" Kidd growled crossing his arms.

"I'm wet." she said.

"You were wet when you got thrown back on deck before." he said rolling his eyes.

"I don't wanna." she replied.

"I'm the captain. You do what I say." he said with a dangerous tone that made some of the guys flinch.

"Fine." she growled and shifted back as white flames surrounded her body.

As they died down, she was holding her arms over her chest and glared at Kidd unamused.

"Happy?" she asked with a bored look on her face.

"Where the hell did your top go?" he asked surprised as some of the guys made cat calls.

"It got caught on that fucker's fangs. I thought I'd spare you the sight but you insisted." she explained with a sigh. Sid walked up to her and turned to his gorilla form. He untied her cardigan from her waist and put it around her shoulders.

"Can I go now, or you wanna stare a little longer? Should I move my arms?" she asked teasingly as she lowered her arms a tiny bit, making some of them blush.

"Go get changed already!" Kidd yelled, his face flushed and stormed off.

"Heat, I got injured." she grinned at him innocently moving her arms back.

"You're terrible, you know that? Come on." he said with a sigh.

She followed along happily as they went to the infirmary.

"Sid go get her a dry set of clothes while I treat her." Heat said to Sid but he just stared at him.

"Yeah. About that . . . I ran out of clean or intact clothing now." she said blushing.

"I'll go see what I can do about it. Stay put." he sighed and walked out.

"That was funny. Did you see Kidd's face?" Izumi chuckled as Sid laughed.

'Don't push your luck though. He seems aggressive.' Sid warned her.

"You're lucky, Killer had some stuff you can borrow." Heat said walking in.

"Thank you." she smiled.

"The bathroom is just around the corner. Go change and wash the blood off your legs." he said shooing her away after he gave her the clothes.

She took a quick shower and dried her body. Looking over the clothes, she pulled a black shirt on with white polka dots, a pair of black boxer briefs and she just held the blue jeans in her arms so that Heat could treat her wounds first. She grabbed her dirty and cut up clothes as well and walked back to the infirmary.

"Sit. Let me see that." Heat said as she sat down on one of the beds and he wrapped her right shin up and re-wrapped her previous wounds as well.

"Doesn't it hurt? You never showed any sign of being in pain so far." he asked curiously as she pulled the jeans on. The leg went over her feet but she just rolled it up.

"Pain is only temporary. Something I stopped worrying about a long time ago. I guess I just got used to it." she said shrugging.

"You're amazing, you know that? I never met a woman who thinks like that." Heat said smiling.

"Thank you." she smiled back and left with Sid on her shoulder.

"Izumi. You alright?" Killer asked as he ran into her.

"Yeah. I had worse. Thanks for letting me borrow your clothes." she smiled.

"No problem." he smiled under his mask and patted her head. She sighed happily and out of curiosity, Killer started scathing behind her ear. She let her eyelids drop as soft purring sounds left her throat.

Catching herself, she snapped her eyes open and stepped away from him blushing.

"Uh. Thanks again. I'm going to sleep now." she said and ran to her room.

"Well that was interesting." he said amused, then walked off.

'You let him get too close.' Sid said unamused, sitting on the table.

"I got carried away." she said annoyed.

"Anyway. I'm going to sleep." she said taking off the shirt and jeans. She got into bed and fell asleep quite quickly. Unusually quickly actually but she was tired from 3 days of fighting and no sleep and her injuries.

. . .

Morning quickly rolled around and soon enough it was time for breakfast. Jake prepared it just how the crew liked it and they happily dug in.

"Wait. Where's Izumi? I nearly forgot she was here." Heat asked.

"Probably sleeping still." Wire said with Sid sitting on his shoulder, munching on fruit.

"Should we go wake her?" Killer asked about to stand.

"Damn woman should learn to turn up on time. I'll drag her lazy fucking ass out of bed." Kidd growled angrily and walked out of the room as the guys looked at him surprised. Sid only sighed but didn't move.

"Woman! Wake the fuck up!" Kidd yelled as he walked through the door without knocking.

He was met with the sight of Izumi standing by her bed with her back to him. She was only in the black boxer briefs Killer had lent her and she was pulling at the bandages on her left upper arm.

As he bust through the door, she looked at him curiously and for a few seconds, both just stared at each other surprised. He could clearly see the golden stripes on her back as her orange hair fell to the middle of her back messily. Realising the situation, both of them turned bet red. Izumi quickly covered her chest with her arms and Kidd turned around.

"How many fucking times will this repeat, damn it?!" he growled.

"You're the one who just barged in without knocking." she said hurriedly pulling on the shirt and jeans.

"What do you want anyway?" she asked.

"Watch how you speak to me!" he suddenly yelled turning to her with a vicious glare.

"I speak how I want. I know you're the captain but how I speak is up to me. You don't scare me nor can you force me to do what I don't want." she glared back, getting annoyed herself.

"What?" he growled, his fists clenching.

"Let's get something straight. I joined your crew because you caught my attention. I'm curious and want to get to know you and your crew. But make no mistake, I do not like being ordered around and I'm not afraid to talk back. I will respect your authority and will follow you but not if you force it on me." she said looking him in the eyes.

For a few seconds, Kidd just glared at her angrily. He never met a woman who stood up to him like this before. She was brave and had spirit, he would be lying if he said he didn't find her interesting. But he was the captain and he had a reputation to uphold.

In a flash, he had her pushed against the wall, with a hand on her throat as he glared into her eyes.

"Listen you little bitch. I don't tolerate disobedience in my crew, especially back talking from a woman. Keep this up and you will find yourself missing your head." he hissed warningly. She only stared up at him unamused, not even bothered by his grip on her throat.

"If you want respect, earn it. You will quickly learn that I'm not your average weak little girly you can push around. Push me the wrong way and I will shove back twice as hard." she growled back with her ears sticking down.

"Do you have a death wish bitch? Didn't you hear what I just said?" Kidd growled, tightening his grip. This time she was struggling to breath.

"I heard loud and clear. Don't try to control me and we will get on just fine." she said with a strangled voice but the look in her eyes portrayed that she was dead serious and dangerous. He could see that she was a wild beast, he just had to tame her. His authority on the crew and threats, obviously wasn't the way he would achieve that.

"You have guts, that's for sure. No one ever talked back to me like this or even dare glare back. Not even Killer, who's my oldest friend." he said releasing her, a little calmer now. He had to admit that her will was admirable and he had a new respect for her in this aspect so he calmed himself down.

"Earn my trust and respect, then you can do what you want. Only with moderation though." he said with a glare.

"That goes for you too. With my respect comes obedience. I'm a very loyal person and as soon as I agreed to join your crew, there was a silent promise of loyalty to the death. As a Tama, I'm very competitive and I don't listen to just anyone. You need to prove your strength and alpha status." she said crossing her arms.

"That can be done. I will tame the beast within you." he smirked, promising that.

"I'm looking forward to it. Now, what did you come here for? You had a reason right?" she asked her demeanour going back to the laid back harmless one. While she was glaring back at him, he could feel that she meant business and she would fight back if he was to attack her.

"Breakfast." he signed and turned around.

"I came to wake you up. Didn't Killer tell you the times we usually eat?" he asked walking out with her beside him.

"He mentioned it. I was just tired. Usually I wake up quite early." she replied.

"Make sure to be on time. If you miss it, there wont be any food left." he said as they walked into the galley.

"Got it." she nodded.

"What took you so long?" Killer asked, raising an eyebrow under his mask.

"He threatened me, I threatened him back. It's all cool now. We worked our shit out." Izumi said shocking them as they stared at Kidd, surprised that she was still in one piece. Knowing his temper, she shouldn't be alive right now if what she said was true. But then again, she had a strong demeanour and they could tell she was powerful.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After breakfast, Izumi went up to the deck with Sid and sat on the railing for a while, looking out at the sea and thinking about her next story to write.

"Zumi." someone called making her jump and she nearly fell overboard if it wasn't for a strong arm grabbing her and pulling her back.

"That was close. Be more careful." Killer said slightly annoyed.

"It's all your fault. Startling me like that." she growled and stood up properly.

"Sorry. I came to return your book. I read your stories and I have to say they're great. I like that you work with all kinds of genres and your writing's interesting." he said handing her said book.

She took it and a light sprinkle of pink appeared on her cheeks.

"You alright?" Killer asked chuckling, seeing her blush.

"No one ever complemented me before. Thank you." she said smiling up at him. He could see the sadness behind her eyes and it surprised him.

"What? But you're amazing." he said.

"You're exaggerating." she giggled masking it well and walked below deck.

"I wonder what she's hiding?" he said to himself and walked off to do his work.

Izumi grabbed a pen and sat up on the mast beside the crow's nest to write. Sometime during that, she fell asleep, laying on the yard.

"Marines! Get ready to fight!" came someone's yell and Izumi fell from up high, startled.

Before she could get injured in her fall though, she landed on her feet and stood up straight, rubbing her eyes.

"What the hell happened?" she asked annoyed. She did not like being woken up, especially by yelling.

"Marines." Wire said with Sid on his shoulder.

"Twelve o'clock Zumi." Killer said and she looked ahead as she was facing towards the front of the ship.

"You woke me up for that?" she asked growling.

"Then at least let me take care of them." she said walking up to the figure head.

"All yours." Kidd said smirking as everyone was preparing for the fight but watched him disappointedly.

"You want a show of my skills?" she asked smirking up at him.

"Show us what you're made of." he replied.

"Aye." she called and as soon as the Marines were near enough, she jumped over and started attacking them as the Kidd Pirates watched in awe.

She was a very fast and skilled fighter. The Marines tried to shoot at her but she dodged all their bullets, breaking their bones and using her fire, she sent little fire pellets at them. She gradually started using more of her fire as her fists were surrounded with it now and she hit the ship with it, setting more stuff on fire as the Marines panicked and tried to kill her but to no avail.

In the end she completely demolished the Marine ship and jumping from the mast, landed a heavy fire attack, sinking it.

She landed back on the Kidd Pirate's ship and grinned at Kidd.

"Not bad." he smirked impressed.

"You took out a whole ship on your own. Just who the hell are you?" Heat asked amazed.

"Just a Kidd Pirate." she grinned. She got quite a nice adrenaline rush with that and she was content. Kidd had to note how quickly she took them out and with seemingly no sweat at all.

"Back to your posts!" Kidd yelled and everyone scattered.

Sid jumped onto Izumi's shoulder and happily talked to her.

"My room, now. I want to talk to you." Kidd said walking off with Killer and Izumi quickly followed along.

She sat on his couch as they got there and Killer joined her this time as Kidd sat at his desk.

"Who taught you how to fight so well?" Kidd asked.

"A guy called Corey. He was a mercenary but retired. He lives on Ruby Lagoon. I learned everything I know about hand to hand combat from him." she replied.

"You're pretty skilled. I guess your feline side helps a lot as well." Killer said.

"Yeah. It grants me more speed and strength than a normal woman would have. My reflexes are a lot better as well amongst my sense of smell and hearing." she explained.

"And your fire?" Kidd asked curiously.

"Self taught. I wasn't allowed to show what I am. So I could only practice it in private." she said.

"By any chance, were you shunned for what you are?" Killer asked carefully.

"How can someone be shunned for something other people don't know about?" she chuckled.

"I hid what I was but I was an outcast no matter what. I guess I just never belonged anywhere." she said smiling nonchalantly but both Killer and Kidd could see the pain hidden in her yellow eyes.

"Sometimes the one's who smile the brightest, hold the most pain inside." Killer said surprising her.

"Or so I heard." he added.  
"Is that so?" she chuckled.

"You belong here." Kidd said getting back to her earlier point.

"I will tame you and make you belong." he said confidently.

"I hope you will. It takes awhile for me to trust people fully so good luck." she grinned.

They realised just how broken and lonely she really was. All her outbursts suddenly made sense to Kidd and he could only imagine what she must have gone through as a child.

She let out a yawn and leaned back on the couch, looking up at the ceiling.

"Whatever the future holds, it can only get better than the past." she smiled.

"Something like that, yeah." Killer chuckled.

"Anyway. That's all I wanted to know. Killer, I'll be in my workshop if you need me." Kidd said standing up.

"Alright." Killer replied following suit. They looked to Izumi, only to find her asleep.

"That was quick." Killer said surprised.

"She's so weird." Kidd commented shaking his head.

"You can say that again." Killer chuckled and picked Izumi up after Sid ran off.

He was about to walk out when she got surrounded by fire, making Killer nearly drop her but she turned into a little golden tiger cub.

"I never knew she could turn into smaller tigers as well." Kidd said amused.

"Looks that way. I think I'll just put her on deck, she seemed to enjoy the sun yesterday." he said and did just that.

A little while later Izumi woke up and decided to look for her book that she forgot about earlier. She found it in the crows nest and headed below deck.

She heard a lot of cluttering from one room and decided to investigate. Opening the door, she found Kidd leaned over something, working with his fluffy coat off. She found his workshop, it was quite big with all sorts of tools in it and metal scraps.

"Hey Kidd. What'cha doing?" she asked, walking in.

"Working. What do you want?" he grumbled.

"Just curious." she grinned.

"Don't get in my way." he said glancing at her then got back to work.

"I won't." she said and sat down opposite him, watching intently what he was doing.

She watched how he worked with the metal intrigued and kept smiling, watching his hands skilfully shape the piece of metal.

"Am I really that interesting that you have to stare at me with such a stupid grin?" he asked unamused.

"What you're doing is a form of art. I really appreciate art and what you're making is interesting." she smiled.

"Well then get comfortable." he grinned. They ended up staying like that for a few hours, Izumi occasionally falling sleep but she would wake up from a louder noise Kidd made.

. . .

They were called for dinner but Izumi followed Kidd back to his workshop afterwards.

"You're here again?" he asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"I like the smell in here and it's warm." she admitted and turning into her tiger form, laid down in a corner so she wouldn't be in the way.

"If you say so." he chuckled and got back to work.

When she woke up next, she grabbed her book and started writing again.

"The sun's gone down. I think I'll call it a day." Kidd said yawning and stretched his cramped muscles.

Izumi just hummed from a chair as she was writing.

"Go to your room or something but when I'm not here, this room is off limits." he said getting up.

"Got it." she said and left to go to her room.

She closed the door behind her and smiled, stretching.

'Good day?' Sid asked.

"Yup. Today was interesting." she grinned and sat down at her table, with the light turned on.

'Sleep.' Sid called as he laid down on her bed.

"I'm not tired. I just got some awesome new ideas, so I'll be writing for a while. Don't let that stop you though, you sleep." she smiled at the monkey and got on with it.

She must have put the pen down at 3 in the morning and curled up beside Sid finally.

. . .

Izumi opened her eyes and stretched.

"I wonder how long I slept?" she asked looking out the window and saw that it was still a bit dark.

Not being able to fall back asleep anymore, she got dressed and walked up to the deck.

She breathed in the crisp morning air and smiled as the sun started to rise.

"This is perfect for a little relaxation." she smiled as no one was around yet. It must have been just after 6 in the morning when she walked out.

. . .

Killer woke up and after freshening up, he headed to the deck.

"Morning." he said to Heat as he was also going the same direction.

"Good morning." he smiled and they walked onto the deck.

They were met with the sight of Izumi in some strange position, with her eyes closed and breathing level. She was softly humming and looked like she was doing some weird stretches.

"Zumi? What are you doing?" Heat asked curiously, surprising her with the nickname. It looked like more of them started to use it.

She cracked an eye open and looked at them.

"Yoga." she simply said confusing them.

"Why?" Killer asked.

"It keeps me relaxed. It's good for flexibility and inner balance. Also physical and mental health. You should try it, it's good." she smiled and sat cross legged.

"I think I'll pass." they both said but watched her finish her routine.

She also did a few hand stands and slow flips, impressing the two with her flexibility.

"Morning." she smiled walking up to them, now completely focused on them.

"Haha. Morning." Heat laughed.

"Do you do this often?" Killer asked amused.

"Every morning if I can. I usually wake pretty early." she replied.

"Who taught you"? Heat asked.

"Gran taught me. It helps me keep control of my anger. Thought I slip up sometimes and things can get out of hand." she chuckled.

"Your anger? You're really calm and smily usually. I didn't take you for one with anger issues." Heat said confused.

"Well it's not as bad as it used to be but Sid still makes me go to therapy after I snap." she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"It'd be interesting to see." Killer said.

"No." she frowned.

"Anyway. You have laundry duty today. I'll show you what to do." he said and led her below deck to the laundry room where a giant pile of dirty clothes were thrown in a corner.

Killer explained how the machine worked and said that they do laundry every 3 days and what she had to do. Which included washing, drying, folding and separating everyone's clothes.

After he said all that, Killer left her to it.

About an hour later he returned to check on her, only to find her asleep atop the buzzing machine in her tiger cub form.

"Zumi, wake up." he called shaking her.

"Killer?" she asked turning back and stood up.

"You fell asleep." he frowned under his mask.

"Sir, only had 3 hours of sleep, sir." she said saluting him and making him chuckle.

"Sleep more then." he said.

"I have insomnia. I can't sleep much during the night. I just have little cat naps throughout the day." she smiled with a shrug.

"How do you have so much energy then?" he asked surprised.

"I consume a lot of sugar and caffeine. I already told my eating habits to Jake so he knows." she smiled.

Speaking of Jake, he just called everyone for breakfast and they waked in.

"Morning." everyone called as she returned it.

"Sleep well?" Wire asked.

"Nope. I don't really remember a time I ever slept well." she said chuckling.

"Oh? How so?" he asked frowning at her as Sid did some hand signs telling him about her insomnia.

"Oh okay. That's unfortunate." he said as she just shrugged.

"I got used to it and I have ways to make up for it." she smiled.

"Like coffee. Here you go, strong with a lot of milk and no sugar." Jake said handing her a big mug.

"Thank you." she said with practically stars in her eyes at the smell of it.

"You're weird." Kidd chuckled.

"Says the metal brain." she smirked.

"What did you call me?" he asked annoyed.

"You heard." she smiled sweetly and started eating.

Kidd just grumbled but let it drop.

"Hey Killer?" she asked as he looked up at her.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Doesn't your nose itch under that mask?" she asked smirking.

"No." he replied.

"Not even a little bit? You know, that annoying tingle in the nostrils as the hairs irritate it?" she asked as he stood up suddenly and ran out, surprising the guys.

"What did you do to him?" Kidd growled as she was laughing.

"Made his nose itch. Psychological attacks. Always funny." she laughed.

"So he ran off to scratch his nose?" Jake asked chuckling.

"Yup." she laughed.

Later on, she was put back to do the laundry but Killer found her asleep again.

"You're not going to be able to do work like this are you?" he asked unamused.

"I can do it." she said half asleep.

"I think it's better if you don't. It'll get done faster with someone who doesn't fall asleep halfway through it." he said chuckling and they went up to deck.

"Do you always wear that mask?" she asked curiously.

"Yes. What's your fascination with it?" he asked.

"It's mysterious. Bitches dig mysterious. And I just like writing it." she grinned making him chuckle.

"Is that so?" he asked amused.

"So you wear it when you eat as well." she said in thought, more of a statement as she saw how he ate already.

"One last question." she suddenly said excitedly.

"Shoot." he chuckled as some of the guys were listening to their conversation.

"Do you have sex with your mask on as well?" she asked dead serious.

Everyone that heard, burst out laughing at the stupid question, even Killer.

He leaned closer to her as he composed himself.

"Would you like to find out?" he asked in a husky tone.

"No." she said stepping away from him, with her ears low.

Sid jumped on her shoulder and pulled his pistol at Killer saying something.

"What did he say?" he asked amused.

"He threatened to shoot you in the dick if you lay a finger on me." she chuckled and petted his head.

"I don't think you need to worry about him Sid. Put that away." she said and walked off, leaving Killer a bit uneasy about the monkey. He was obviously protective of her but he seemed laid back as well.

Looking at Izumi, they realised how much they accepted her into the crew already despite it being such a short time, though not completely yet. She was so cheery and warm, she always sent off a friendly vibe that they couldn't help but get comfortable around so it was like she's been with them for a lot longer.

"Heat." she called waking up to him.

"Yes?" he asked smiling.

"Can I spar with you?" she smiled taking the man by surprise.

"You're still injured." he frowned.

"But I need adrenalin. My doctor said that if I don't get a dose of adrenaline at least every day I will die." she said with pleading eyes.

"I'm your doctor and that's bullshit." he frowned crossing his arms.

"Please." she said stepping closer.

"I can't win can I? Sure." he sighed as she pulled him to the middle of the deck happily.

"Thank you. Don't go easy on me now, cause I wont." she smirked and launched straight into an attack. He barely had time to dodge her kick but quickly composed himself and fought back.

They went back and fourth and for the lack of better words, she was wiping the floor with his ass.

"I thought I told you not to go easy on me." she frowned jumping back.

"I don't want to make your wounds worse." he frowned.

"Either hit me with all you have or I'll roast your ass." she said with a shrug and he knew she wasn't kidding.

He frowned but he used his special move and breathed fire at her. She jumped out of the way but chuckled and smirked at him yelling a 'that's more like it' and they went at it again but he was doing better.

"What the fuck is going on here?!" came Kidd's yell and made the two stop in their tracks.

"Sparring." Izumi grinned.

"Last time I checked, you were injured." he glared at her.

"T'is but a starch." she said.

"You're clothes are soaking through with blood." he pointed out unamused.

"Damn it." Izumi cursed looking herself over.

"Do you even feel pain, you weird bitch?" he asked walking up to her.

"Of course I do. I just ignore the fuck out of it." she chuckled.

"This ends now. Heat back to work." Kidd said as Heat walked off.

"Aww it was just getting good." she frowned.

"No fighting until you recovered." he said and dragged her with him down to his workshop.

"But who knows how fucking long that will take." she whined.

"I don't care. I'm not having you die from blood loss or infection." he said and sat her down on a chair while he got back to work.

"Well at least I get to watch you work." she grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Kidd. We'll be landing in an hour." Killer came in as Kidd nodded and Izumi stood up stretching.

"Finally. I need quite a few stuff to buy." she smiled.

"You can take someone with you when we get there." Killer said.

Not long after, they docked at the island and Izumi was excited to go explore.

"Heat. Come with me to buy the shit I need." she grinned at him after Killer gave her enough money for what she wanted.

"Sure." he chuckled and they walked off with Sid on her shoulder.

Killer had warned them not to get in too much trouble as there was a Marine base on the island but she just brushed him off.

"So where do you wanna go first?" Heat asked as they walked along the market.

"I need new clothes first." she said and walked into a shop.

"I'll be here, just go pick out what you want and I'll wait for you." he said stopping by the door.

"Okay." she chuckled and walked further in.

First of all, Izumi picked out a few pairs of panties, bras and socks. She then looked for some jeans and tops she liked the style of. Then some hoodies, cardigans and a coat for colder weather. She also picked out a pair of bikini and two pairs of shoes; black lace up boots and converse.

She paid for all the items and asked to change into some as the clothes she was wearing were kinda soaked with her blood.

In the changing room, she pulled on her new black underwear, a body hugging maroon sleeveless shirt that had a hood and only reached a few inches below her breast with a zip at the middle. She also pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans and the black lace up boots that reached up to her mid calves. To finish off, she pulled on a pair of dark grey fingerless gloves that reached up to her elbows and were quite loose on her arm.

"I'm done. Thanks for waiting." she smiled walking up to Heat and Sid with the bags of clothes in her hands.

"That suits you." he said smiling at her.

"Thanks." she smiled with a bit of pink dusting her cheeks. She really wasn't used to compliments so they surprise her every time.

"I only need the tattooing equipment, a new book to write in and a chain for my pendant." she said counting them off on her fingers.

"Pendant?" Heat asked.

"It's only a cheap little thing but I like it. The chain broke so I need a new one for it." she smiled.

They managed to find everything and Heat helped her take them back to the ship.

"There. We should look for captain and the others now." Heat said as they walked back out.

"I guess so but I wanna explore." she grinned.

"That couldn't hurt actually." he said and they walked into town again.

The island was a spring island with nice weather and friendly people. It was a big city and after asking, they found out that the log pose will set in a day so they had time to look around.

Heat found it amusing how Izumi reacted to all the different smells and sounds as they walked around. Her ears were constantly twitching and her tail swayed from side to side behind her casually.

"Oy. Weird cat girl." someone called, making them turn around.

"What are you two doing in our territory?" some muscular guy asked with other muscular guys behind him.

"I didn't realise the city was divided by territories." she replied, not the least bit fazed by their glares and attempt at intimidation.

"Well it is. This part belongs to the Scorpios. Are you a spy from the Tigers?" he asked glaring at her.

"We're pirates." she simply said, curious to what they will do.

"Just because you're pirates, don't think that you can come here and do what you want. You don't look all that anyway." he said with a scoff.

"Oh, don't I? Do you want me to show you?" she asked smirking.

"Zumi. Killer said not to get into trouble." Heat reminded her with a hand on her shoulder.

"He talks too much." she replied surprising him.

"I won't tolerate a woman talking back to me. We are the mighty Scorpions. I will make you regret that you were born." he growled annoyed that she wasn't intimidated by him.

"I will take this territory and claim it as mine." she declared grinning at him as Heat just sighed.

"Like hell you will." the leader growled and sent his men at them.

Smirking, she attacked them and only fought bare handed. She mostly broke their bones that she could reach and knocked them out. Soon enough, the rest of the guy's gang joined in and Heat was dragged into it as well.

They were beating the absolute crap out of them but they just kept coming, more and more of them.

News of the ruckus spread through the city and eventually Kidd heard about it as well.

The rumour said that two insane demons had attacked the Scorpions and were roasting them. It was also said that they were taking over that territory and were planning to kill everyone.

"I thought I told her to stay out of trouble." Killer groaned as they made their way over to them.

"She started a fight without me." Kidd growled making Killer do a face palm.

As they got to the place where they were fighting, they found Heat and Izumi having the time of their lives, beating the ever loving crap out of the gang.

"What the hell do you think you're fucking doing?!" Kidd yelled making them pause.

Heat immediately apologized and said it was Izumi's fault.

"They started it." she said punching a guy in the face and breaking his nose. That was the last of them and they walked up to Kidd.

"How could you get into a fight and not invite me?" Kidd growled.

"You weren't here." she shrugged.

"That isn't the point. You got the attention of the other gang as well." Killer said pointing out that they were now surrounded by the members of the other gang.

"Come and get some!" Izumi yelled, grinning at them.

"New leader of the Scorpions! We came to take over your territory!" the leader of the Tigers yelled.

"I won't give it. It's mine now." Izumi said grinning as they were attacked.

Izumi watched as Kidd activated his powers and made a giant metal arm of all sorts of metallic objects.

"Awesome." she grinned at him and then dodged a punch, kicking the guy in the stomach and banged his head against the side of a building.

Everyone showed off their abilities and Izumi watched happily. She especially liked Kidd's ability, Killer's spinning scythes and Jake also had a Devil Fruit. He had the Logia Vine-Vine Fruit that allowed him to turn his body parts into vines and used leaves as knives. She was just really impressed with her crew all together and turning into a big golden tiger, she let out a loud roar. She attacked the gang members and slashed and bit at them with razor sharp claws and fangs.

Soon enough, the streets were stained with blood and none of the gang members were left alive.

"That was so cool. You guys are seriously powerful." Izumi said ginning at them all.

"Of course we are. What the fuck did you expect?" Kidd grinned, happy that she was so impressed with them.

"Stay right there Kidd Pirates! You are under arrest!" shouted a Marine officer as they were surrounded once again.

"Marines." Izumi growled annoyed.

"You don't like them?" Wire asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I'm a pirate and they're all just hypocritical fuckers who are greedy and discriminative." she growled.

"Izumi?" one of the Marines asked surprised.

"Do I know you?" she glared at him.

"What is the Golden Tiger doing with the Kidd Pirates?" he asked annoyed.

"I _am_ a Kidd Pirate. Now if you don't know me then let me kill you." she smirked and attacked them with her fire.

The Marines and Pirates clashed, blood spraying everywhere with fire in the air and metal flying around. It was obviously a one sided fight and the Marines were loosing.

Izumi ran around enjoying the blood shed as she set fire to the Marines who were about to shoot her crew mates, who had their backs to them, occupied with someone else.

"Thanks." they called back and she just grinned in return.

Soon the battle calmed down and only the Pirates remained standing.

"How familiar this smell is." Izumi chuckled with nostalgia.

"You obviously enjoy fighting." Killer chuckled, ruffling her hair.

"You have spunk and aren't afraid to kill. You fit right in with us." Kidd said smirking at her.

"It's only natural for a predator to kill it's threat." she replied.

"So how did you end up in this situation anyway?" Kidd asked as he started walking off, with Izumi and Killer following. Sid staid behind with Wire.

She explained what happened to her as they reached the edge of the town and walked into the woods near by.

"What did you mean by familiar smell?" Killer asked.

"You said it was familiar to you." he elaborated.

"You picked it up huh? The meaning." she asked smiling at him.

"I was bullied relentlessly as a child. I used to get angry and kill the kid who did it, then burn their bodies. So the smell of blood and burning flesh isn't something new to me." she explained surprising them.

"Did you really have such a horrible childhood?" Killer asked as Kidd listened quietly.

"Not really. I had gran and even gramps Garp came to see me often. I also had Corey and Silvia, who looked past my problematic behaviour." she grinned.

"Garp as in that Marine Vice Admiral?" Kidd asked surprised.

"Yeah. I figured out a long time ago that he was the one who saved my life. He denies it but I know." she smiled.

"Amazing. To think someone like that is your gramps." Killer said.

"He's pretty much the only Marine I can stand." she chuckled.

"He's the only one that ever showed me kindness, the others either ignored my existence or pushed me around." she said.

"I have some strong impulses I can't fight sometimes. Mostly to do with attacking something or simple tiger instincts. If my actions seem strange sometimes it's because of my half beast soul." she grinned.

"It only makes things more interesting." Killer chuckled.

"I will tame that beast soul of yours." Kidd grinned.

"Haha. Have fun with that. Let's race back to the ship." she suddenly said as they didn't find anything interesting in the woods.

"Alright." Killer smirked under his mask.

"You're not allowed in your tiger form though." Kidd called as well.

"Ready. Steady." she said getting into position as did the other two.

"Go!" she yelled and they started running back.

Killer was the fastest but as soon as they hit the city, Izumi ran up a building and started free running on the rooftops.

"That's cheating!" Kidd yelled.

"You only said tiger!" Izumi yelled back amused as she did a couple of flips in the air and landed on the next rooftop.

As they got closer to the ship, they could hear a battle going on. They immediately realised that the Marines have attacked the ship so they sped up.

Izumi turned into her tiger form and jumped into the fray. They quickly finished them off and sunk the Marine ships that attacked their own.

"Damn it. They hit the ship hard. Captain, we need to fix it before we could set sail again." Jin, the shipwright said unamused. He was pretty tall with round sunglasses and a sandy bond mohawk.

"How long will it take?" Kidd asked annoyed.

"Till tomorrow night if I start now." he replied.

"Get to it then." Kidd said and walked off.

A few of the guys helped as well and got supplies to fix the ship with.

"Can I help?" Izumi asked walking up to Jin.

"Yeah. The more hands the better. Help Wire carry the planks." he said and with a happy nod, Izumi ran off to do just that.

They were working well into the night and pretty much pulled an all nighter. Izumi helped with everything she could and they really appreciated it. They gave her some harder jobs to test her and were surprised to see how well she dealt with them.

They surprisingly finished by the afternoon and Kidd threw a massive party in a local pub to celebrate the victorious fights the day previous.

"Zumi come drink with us." Heat called happily as she was just sat at the bar looking uncomfortable.

"Let loose a little." he laughed pulling her to their table.

"I never been to a party before." she admitted.

"Really? We'll show you how it's done." Wire grinned and handed her a mug of beer.

"Alright." she smiled and took it.

"Are you a light weight?" Killer asked curiously.

"Actually I can hold my alcohol quite well. Gran used to challenge me to drinking contests after I became of age. She said I need to learn how to drink." she said smiling.

"I challenge you to a drinking contest then." Jin grinned sitting down beside her.

"Before you do that and get shit faced, sing us a song." Kidd grinned.

"Why not?" she grinned and jumped onto the bar.

"What should I sing? How about a chantey. Whitebeard taught it to me once." she grinned, surprising them with the information.

"It's called 'The Beast of Pirate's Bay'." she said grinning as the musicians in the pub started to play it. (it's by Voltaire but I found it fitting)

"Gather weary travellers,  
I have a tale to tell.  
It might just save your lives but only if you listen well.  
'Cause there before the breakers  
And just around the way,  
There's a sign that says,  
'Beware The Beast of Pirate's Bay!'" she sang and they were very pleased to hear her have such a great voice.  
"Some say he's a guppy a kid threw in the sea.  
He ate so many sailors, now he's bigger than a tree.  
His teeth are sharp as scissors  
His claws, they are like knives.  
And if you think he's ugly, wait 'til you see his insides!

Oh, don't you sail and don't you row and certainly don't you swim,  
'Cause if you aren't careful you'll end up inside of him.  
He'll eat you up, he'll spit you out. You'd better stay away.  
Heed the sign that says, 'Beware the Beast of Pirate's Bay!'" she sang with confidence and gestured moving around the counter.  
"Some say he's a serpent that came straight from hell,  
He came to eat the souls of pirates and other ne'er-do-wells.  
Some they don't believe it, as for me I've got a hunch.  
'Cause they used to have some pirates here.  
But he ate them all for lunch!

Well, Captain Hook, you've heard of him, he came to Pirate's Bay.  
It seems his little nemesis had nearly got away.  
He reached into the water to grab at Peter Pan.  
There was a crunch and a scream!  
And now that scurvy captain's got hooks on both his hands!

Well, Blackbeard the Pirate, you know for what he's feared.  
It's mostly for the dark, imposing colour of his beard.  
He saw the beast and now nobody's scared of him because,  
His beard turned white and all agree,  
He looks like Santa Claus.

Well, now the tavern's empty and there's only you and me.  
And if you care I'd like to share how this song came to be.  
So come a little closer if you really want to know.  
This very sad and woeful tale happened so long ago.

Well, I was just a little boy when I went to Pirate's Bay  
And there I saw a creature that was very much dismayed.  
With a harpoon in his dorsal fin and a hook stuck in his side,  
This mighty whale was in such pain, we both began to cry.

I pushed and I shoved, but he wouldn't give way  
Into the deeper waters off our shallow Pirate's Bay.  
All I could do to help him was to keep people away,  
So I wrote a sign that said, 'Beware The Beast of Pirate's Bay!'  
And what did it say?

Don't you sail and don't you row and certainly don't you swim,  
'Cause if you aren't careful you'll end up inside of him.  
He'll eat you up, he'll spit you out. You'd better stay away.  
Heed the sign that says, "Beware."  
Hell I should know, I put it there!  
Heed the sign that says, 'Beware the Beast of Pirate's Bay!'" she finished as everyone cheered amazed.

"Another one!" they yelled.

"Nope. Kidd never said how many I have to sing. Maybe next time." she said and winked at them.

They whined but she jumped down and joined them at the table again.

"Now back to the drinking contest." Jin grinned.

"You're on." she smirked and they started to drink.

Half an hour later, Jet was blabbering nonsense and was close to passing out while Izumi only had a light blush on her face and she looked more cheery and laughed at everything.

"Wow. I did not expect this." Killer laughed looking at her.

"This is fun. Killer dance with me." she grinned and hugged him but instead of pulling him up, she nuzzled her face into his chest surprising him.

"You're so warm." she hummed.

"Thanks, I guess." Killer said patting her head.

"Uh yeah. Dance." she shop up and this time, pulled him up as well.  
"Well alright then." he chuckled.

They ended up dancing to the music and some of the others joined them as well.

"You're not a bad dancer Zumi." Wire said grinning down at her.

"You're tall." she grinned.

"You're drunk." he laughed.

"I know that." she laughed as well.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Kidd Pirates awoke the next morning with hangovers and got up grumbling.

Izumi was asleep, curled up in her tiger form on the floor beside Kidd as he leaned on her soft furry back.

"Look at that." Killer smirked under his mask, nudging Heat.

"That's interesting. Looks like they finally got used to each other." he replied.

"I wonder how they will react when they wake up." Wire said walking up to them.

"Should be interesting." Killer chuckled.

They didn't have to wait that long until Izumi stirred awake. Noticing the weight on her, she shifted carefully to lay on her back and looked at the person laying with their head on her stomach.

She just stared at him for a few moments, then resting a paw on his shoulder, she nudged his face with her nose.

Kidd opened is eyes to be met with big yellow orbs and a fluffy golden tiger's face. In his half asleep state, he just reached up and softly stroked Izumi's head.

"Kidd, I didn't know you could be so affectionate." she said amused, waking him up fully as he shot up.  
"What the fuck?!" he yelled looking at her shocked. She just calmly stood up and stretched in her tiger form.

"You fell asleep on me last night." she said and walked up to a sleeping Sid, who was curled up on a table.

"What are you looking at?" Kidd yelled at Killer and the others who were watching the exchange amused. They immediately scattered and Killer walked up to him.

Izumi nudged Sid awake and he rolled off the table. In his startled state he turned into a gorilla and swung his arm at Izumi. She jumped back and let out a warning growl at him.

'Oh, sorry. You caught me by surprise.' he said apologetically and patted her head.

"Zumi. We're heading back to the ship. Come on." Killer called to her as Sid turned back to his golden lion tamarin form and jumped on her back.

"Coming." she said in her tiger form still.

"You alright? Hangover?" he asked.

"Yup and no hangover. I don't usually get them." she said amused. To be fair most of the crew didn't get them either.

Everyone got back to the ship and quickly got to work as they set sail.

. . .

Izumi was sorting out her stuff in her room; put all her clothes away and set up her tattooing equipment on her desk.

"Hey Izumi." Jin grinned as he walked in.

"Hey Jin. What can I do for you?" she turned to him smiling.

"I want a new tattoo." he said walking in fully.

"Of course. What would you like?" she grinned as he happily explained it and she got to drawing up the design while he went off to do his work.

"Lunch!" Jake yelled as Izumi was right about finished with the drawing.

She happily walked into the galley and strolled over to Jin.

"I've done the design. What do you think?" she asked handing him the piece of paper.

"Holy crap. This is exactly how I imagined it. You're amazing." he grinned looking at it amazed.

"I'm glad you like it. Where do you want it?" she asked smiling.

"On my back. Will that be alright?" he asked happily.

"Yup. Come to my room after food and I can start it." she smiled and walked off to sit down beside Kidd.

"What was that about?" Kidd asked glancing at the happy Jin.

"My new canvas. I'm a tattoo artist remember?" she smirked up at him.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the end result." Killer said.

"I'm looking forward to doing it." she grinned.  
"Where did you learn tattooing?" Heat asked.

"From Silvia. She's a tattoo artist and taught me the trade." Izumi smiled.

"You mentioned her before." Killer said remembering it.

"Yeah. Three people. On the whole island as I grew up I only managed to make friends with three people. Gran, Corey and Silvia." she chuckled. This time, they could see the irony in her words instead of the pain. They guessed she was just in a good mood.

After they ate, Jin dragged her back to her room and she made a start on his new tattoo. She drew it up on his back first then started to do the outlines.

"I see you take pain well. That's good." Izumi said smiling as Jin was laying on her bed on his stomach with her in a chair beside him.

"Yeah. As pirates, we get into a lot of fights and we get injured a lot. It's a given that we take pain well. What about you?" he said.

"I got used to the pain." she smiled.

Sometime later, Kidd walked in and watched how she worked curiously.

"With how wild you are, I never thought you would have so much patience for this." Kidd said grinning.

"You'd be surprised." she chuckled.

"It looks great." he said, surprising her with the sudden compliment.

"Thanks." Izumi blushed.

"Aww. You're blushing." Jin cooed.

"Shut it. It's cause I'm not used to compliments." she frowned with her ears sticking down.

"You're one weird woman. Captain you sure know how to pick em." Jin said chuckling.

"Shut the fuck up." Kidd said unamused.

Sid walked into the room and jumped onto Kidd's shoulder saying something to Izumi.

"A few more hours Sid, be patient. And while you're here throwing request after demand around, go and grab me something sweet." Izumi said unamused.

"What does he want?" Kidd asked raising an eyebrow.

"A fight and a nap." she simply replied as the monkey jumped on her desk and took out a lollipop from a big jar of candy.

"Thanks." she grinned as he unwrapped it and put it in her mouth.

"Sweet tooth huh?" Jin asked smirking at her.

"Yup." she smirked.

It was another two hours until Izumi finally finished Jin's tattoo and wiped his back off the excess ink.

"Done. I presume you know how to care for it?" she asked as he nodded and ran out to go look at it.

"Nice job. It looked pretty good." Kidd grinned.

"Thanks. I guess you returned the favour of watching you work huh?" she chuckled.

"It was interesting to watch." he grinned as she cleaned up her equipment.

"Ever thought about getting a tattoo?" she asked looking at his exposed torso.

"Not really." Kidd shrugged.

"I'd like to mark that pale skin. It's a perfect canvas." she smirked, resting a hand on his chest.

"Is that so? Tell you what?" he said smirking down at her.

"When I finally tame you, I will let you mark it." he smirked grabbing her hand.

"Looking forward to it." she grinned and pulled her hand from his.

"I'm gonna ask Heat to take these bandages off. They're just in the way now." she said and walked out.

"Heat. Check my wounds, I want these bandages gone." Izumi said walking into the infirmary.

"Sure but I don't think they have healed yet." he said looking at her.

"I heal quite fast actually, they should be good now." she said as he unwrapped her arm and stomach.

"It's almost healed. Pretty awesome. You can start sparring with someone now." he said grinning. The claw marks were only a pink scar, still a bit irritated but closed up.

"Awesome. Thanks Heat." she grinned and ran out.

Running up to deck where Sid was casually talking to Wire, she yelled at him.  
"Bitch fight me!" Izumi yelled as Sid turned into a gorilla and blocked her kick.

She sent a few more punches and kicks at him that he had trouble blocking, then turned into a big golden tiger.

She growled playfully as they circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

In a split second, Izumi launched at him and knocked him to the floor, with her big paws at ether side of his head and she growled into his face. Sid then flipped them around and pushed her jaw away from him as he held one of her arms down. They were both growling and she pushed at his stomach with one of her back legs.

"What the fuck are you two doing now?!" Kidd yelled as he walked onto the deck annoyed.

Using Sid's startled state, she pushed forward and onto him again as she lightly bit at his neck.

He tapped the floor and she got off.

"And that's 60 to 58 in my favour. Sid you need to step your game up." Izumi chuckled in her tiger form and walked up to Kidd.

"Just a friendly fight. Nothing to worry about." she said looking up at him.

"Well keep it down." he frowned and walked off.

"Hey Killer. I have a question." she ran up to him after noticing him walk by.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Why do you wear the mask all the time? Is it to hide something on your face or just cause you thought it was cool?" she asked looking up at him with big curious yellow tiger eyes.

"Hiding something." he chuckled and patted her head. She happily leaned into his hand and started purring.

"Damn it, not again." she grumbled and walked away from him as he just laughed.

After dinner, Izumi took her sketch book and started to draw happily as she sat on the ship's yard, beside the mast.

As soon as the sun went down, she walked back to her room and spent hours writing, only getting to sleep very late as usual.

She woke very early in the morning and did her yoga, with Heat and Killer watching quietly after she yelled at them for interrupting her concentration.

"Alright I'm done." she smiled and walked up to the two.

"Interesting poses you pulled off." Heat said chuckling.

"Shut it before I blackmail you into doing it with me." she glared at him.

"You wouldn't." he frowned.

"Oh I would and I will if you piss me off." she smirked.

"No thanks. Bye." he said and speed walked away.

"Killer. Can you be my sparring partner?" she asked smiling up at him.

"Sure. Why not?" he smiled under his mask.

"Thank you. We can start after breakfast. I need foodstuffs before I can fuck a bitch up." she chuckled and walked away, leaving Killer amused.

She was certainly interesting and she seemed to open up a bit more to the guys now. He could feel a darkness lurking whiting her though and he wanted to see it.

So after breakfast, Killer stood opposite Izumi as he promised. Spinning scythes at the ready as she had a big grin on her face and stood in a fighting stance with her claws sharp and fangs showing in her human form. Even Kidd stood to the side to watch, out of curiosity.

They launched at each other and Izumi skilfully avoided Killer's blades as he was careful with her claws. They went back and forth fighting with grace and amazing agility. The crew was pretty impressed and they could see how much she was enjoying the fight.

"You're good." Killer said jumping back.

"You too." Izumi grinned panting.

'That's enough for now.' Sid called.

"Kay. We can do this again later." she smiled at Killer.

"Yup." Killer grinned under his mask.

Izumi was on mop duty later on and she fell asleep halfway through it, standing up none the less.

She was leaning on the mop with the handle's end on her cheek.

"Zumi!" Killer yelled alarmed as she started to slip and he pulled her away in time and the mop banged on the floor.

From the sudden movement, Izumi woke with a shock and out of reflex, threw Killer over her shoulder, straddling him with her hands in a dangerous grip on his throat.

"Zumi. It's me, calm down. I just pulled you off before you could stab your eye out with the mop in your sleep." Killer explained with his hands up in surrender.

"Dude, don't wake me up so violently. I could have killed you." she groaned and got off him.  
"Thanks though. I'm quite fond of my eye sight." she said and picked the mop up.

"Are you seriously gonna fall asleep during all your duties?" he asked with a sigh.

"I already told you, I need several cat naps during the day to survive." she said with a bored tone.

"Okay. We're not gonna get anywhere like that. You get no responsibilities. I think you will just end up hurting yourself." he said and shooed her away.

"Sorry." she frowned and walked below deck. Catching a whiff of Kidd's scent, she followed it to his workshop and sat down opposite him.

"What's the matter now?" he asked annoyed.

"Killer wont let me work cause I fall asleep." she said pouting.

"Isn't that a good thing? Now you won't have to." he asked amused.

"But I want to take my part, if I don't, I just feel like a free loader." she admitted.

"That's stupid." Kidd laughed.

"You're stupid." she snapped back.

"Watch your fucking mouth." he growled.

"Yeah, yeah. What are you working on anyway?" she asked looking at his work.

"Something. Stop bothering me and just sit quietly or leave." Kidd frowned, sending a glare at her.

"I'll be on the floor asleep." she said and did just that, in her tiger form.

. . .

The next day started as usual and they were having breakfast.

"Zumi, I was wondering. When's your birthday?" Wire asked as Sid looked at him surprised and told him to drop the subject and fast.

"Does it matter?" she asked in a bored tone.

"I only told Heat cause it was for medical stuff. You on the other hand have no use for that info." she said with a cold look in her eyes.

"Why not? I was just wondering. We could celebrate it." he said confused.

"Why would you do such a stupid thing?" she asked, this time it was her turn to be confused. This got the attention of the others.

"You usually celebrate a persons birthday. That isn't a strange thing." Jake said frowning.

"I realised that. I just don't get the point. It's useless. You were born, yeah, that date marks your age. Other than that, it has no meaning. Celebrating something so insignificant is just a bother. You're only getting older." she said with a sigh as Sid face palmed.

"Is that what you think?" Heat asked upset.

"Yeah." she nodded.

"How come?" Kidd asked curious as well. She only looked up at him frowning.

"The date of by birth is bad luck. You see, when I was born, things have started turning for the worst. When I turned one, the Tama tribe was wiped out. When I turned two, Gran's husband was shot in the head. When I turned three, I was nearly killed by some wire I got tangled up in and managed to hang myself. I don't need to mention the rest but something shitty always happens on that day without fail. Why the fuck should I celebrate something like that?" she asked standing up and with a last glare at Wire, she walked out.

They were surprised to hear all that. She was indeed hiding a darker past than she let on.

Kidd found her in his workshop later, curled up in the corner in her tiger form but as a little cub.

"So this is where you went." he said crouching down beside her.

"What do you want?" she growled at him.

"Why did you come to this room of all places?" he asked with a sigh, instead of addressing her earlier outburst.

"I feel at ease here. This scent gives me a sense of familiarity. I dunno why but I can calm down here." she said sitting up as he picked her up and walked to his chair.

"What are you doing?" she asked confused.

"You're a tiger. Can't I fucking pet an animal? I like the feel of your fur." he said and brushed his hand down her back. She suddenly turned big and hugged him in her tiger form. He just chuckled and brushed his hands through the soft fur on her back.

Sometime during that, she fell asleep on him and turned back to human.

"What the? I hope you do this fucking unconsciously." he grumbled and picked her up.

"Stupid woman." he frowned but headed to her room anyway.

"Kidd. We'll be reaching an island in a few hours." Killer said walking up to him.

"She alright?" he asked.

"Fell asleep." Kidd replied and put her down in her bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Kidd Pirates were nearing a summer island and they could already feel the heat of it's weather.

Izumi woke up not that long ago and joined them outside in her usual outfit. Noticing the heat, she turned back around and walked back to her room.

She put on a black bikini top, burgundy shorts and her black high top converse.

"Alright. I'm better now." she said returning to the deck.

"I thought you liked the heat." Killer said chuckling.

"I do but this is roasting temperature." she said frowning and pulled her hair into a high ponytail.

"You're weird." Heat chuckled.

"You guys seem to be saying that a lot. Anyway, what's up with this fucking heat? It's never been this hot." she asked curiously.

"We're gonna land on a summer island soon." Kidd said looking at her amused.

"Really? I've never been to one. This is so exciting. I can't wait to see what kind of animals live there." she grinned excitedly.

"You serious?" Wire asked surprised as were the others.

"Yup." she chuckled.

"What about the people? Aren't you curious about them?" Heat asked.

"Humans are overrated. I'm not that fond of other people. You guys I like though." she said making them smile.

As soon as they docked, Izumi ran off with Sid before anyone could do anything and were out of sight in an instant.

"Aaand they're off." Killer chuckled.

"How long do you think it will take for them to get into trouble?" Heat asked amused.

"Not long." Kidd said and they walked into town.

As most of the crew were off gathering the supplies they needed, Kidd, Killer, Heat and Wire walked into a bar to have a refreshing drink and find a few things out about the island.

It was a nice quiet island and not many of the villagers bugged Kidd, which was surprising. The log pose was to set in 3 days and during that time, no one saw Izumi.

"Where do you think she went?" Heat asked slightly worried.

"Who the fuck knows? She runs off all the damn time." Kidd frowned.

"She can look after herself and I'm sure she can find us again if she wants to." Killer added.

"I've heard some people say they saw a crazy tiger and gorilla running around in the desert, chasing some big lizards." Wire said making them chuckle.

"Yeah. That sounds like her." Kidd chuckled.

"I'm a little worried though. If she's running around in what she wore all day, she might get sick and the sun will burn her skin to a crisp." Heat said frowning.

"I'm sure she's fine. Now stop whining, she's a fucking Kidd Pirate. No way some stupid weather can take her down." Kidd said annoyed.

Not long after lunch, Sid came into the bar the crew was avoiding the sun in, followed by an excited Izumi behind his large gorilla form.

"Kidd, Kidd! Look what I found!" she yelled happily as they looked at her and took a double take at what she was holding.

She walked up to their table and put a pretty big cactus on the table in front of them, staring at it in awe.

"I found this hedgehog plant deep in the dessert. It's so cool." she grinned at Kidd.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." he said as most of the guys burst out laughing.

"Have you never seen a cactus before?" Killer asked laughing.

"So that's what it's called. I never been to a summer island before so it's the first time I see all these cool animals and plants." she said grinning at him.

"You're not supposed to touch the cactus Zumi. Look at your hands and arms." Heat said frowning at all the bleeding pin pricks.

"It's fine. It sort of reminds me of Kidd." she grinned surprising them and instantly angering Kidd.

"How come?" Wire asked amused.

"Well it's dangerous and if you handle it wrong, you will end up bleeding. If I talk to Kidd the wrong way, he gets angry and violent. So they're similar." she explained smiling as the guys again laughed their balls off.

"Hey, can I keep it?" she asked grinning at Kidd.

"No fucking way. Go get rid of it and wash your arms." he said glaring at her.

"Oh but Kidd. Please. I want a hedgehog plant and I wanna name it Kidd the second." she whined, annoying him further and making the guys laugh harder.

"No!" Kidd yelled.

"Why?!" Izumi yelled back.

"Because I said so and you can't name it after me!" he growled, glaring at her.

"Isn't that kind of a compliment?" she asked, glaring back.

"Not if it's a fucking cactus you're naming." he said.

"Fine! Fucking hell, can't even adopt a plant." she yelled, then mumbled the last part annoyed.

"Just forget about it Zum. You're not getting it so might as well get rid of it now." Killer said amused.

"Whatever." she huffed and picking the cactus up bare handed again, left to get rid of it.

It didn't take long and she walked back in and sat back down.

"So what have you been up to all this time?" Heat asked.

"We've been running around the desert. It was pretty fucking fun. We met a lot of cool new animals and they told us a little about the island. And I got into a lot of fights and bit everyone's necks." she beamed happily.

"Bit their neck? Is that some sort of kinky thing you're into?" Wire asked laughing.

"No. It's an animal thing." she deadpanned.

"You bit Sid's neck as well when you finished your fight." Killer pointed it out.

"Yes. Let's use wolves as an example. In every wolf pack, there is an alpha. If a pack member steps out of line, the alpha puts them back in line by biting their neck or just straight up fighting them. The neck is the most sensitive place on an animal's body and it's an instant kill if you get it right. So biting the neck is a sign of dominance. If they let the alpha bite it, then it means that they accept their dominance." she explained.

"So you just dominated most of the animals on the island." Heat said laughing.

"I'm the alpha here now. They listen to me until we leave and a new alpha rises." Izumi said smiling.

"What about when animals piss on every plant they come across?" Wire asked.

"That's a territorial thing. They leave their smell on things they consider theirs and mark it like that." she simply said.

"You're heavily instinct driven. Do you do all that?" Heat asked.

"I bite things but I don't piss on plants. I get really bad hunting urges if I don't fight at least every day. But I had my fun here. I also unconsciously start purring if someone rubs behind my ears and if I'm comfortable enough, I seek warmth from a person." she said a little embarrassed by the end.

"Yeah, it's amusing." Killer said chuckling as he was the one who got her to do that.

"Anyway. It's about time we leave. Let's go." Kidd said and they all stood up.

They set sail and left the summer island as Izumi looked back at it longingly.

"Just forget about your cactus Zumi." Jake laughed.

"But I really liked Kidd the second." she pouted.

"Fucking shut up about it already!" Kidd yelled from somewhere near the front of the ship.

"Whatever." she pouted and walked below deck.

She was writing for some time, until everyone was called in for dinner.

"That's unusual. Izumi isn't here yet." Jake said frowning.

"Fuck's sake." Kidd grumbled.

"Do you want me to get her?" Killer asked.

"No need. She's here." Wire said, nodding her way as she slowly walked up to them.

"Heat. I think I might be dying." she said with a weak voice.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked alarmed as they looked her over. She did look a little flustered and had a sway in her walk.

"I don't know. I never felt this before. My body's hot all over and my mind is cloudy. My heart is pounding and I'm just plain uncomfortable." she said leaning on the table with her hands as her ears stuck down and her eyes were lidded.

"Are you in heat by any chance?" Wire asked surprising them all but she just shrugged.

"To be honest that could be possible." Jake chuckled.

Sid laughed and said something to Wire in sign language as he walked up to Izumi.

"Even Sid said it's a possibility cause of her tiger side." Wire chuckled.

Sid sat down on the table in front of her and started to explain something to her. They could see that Izumi's eyes widened and an annoyed look took over her eyes.

"I know what fucking sex is! You don't have to explain it to me, damn it!" she yelled.

"Is that what he said?" Wire asked laughing.

Sid had a banana in his hand as he was having his dinner as well so using that, he started to explain something again.

She went bet red this time and as her ears stuck down, she held her hands over it, frowning with wide eyes.

"Enough!" she suddenly yelled. They just looked at her surprised and curious to what Sid said.

"Your little _story_ was basically porn. It was really fucking uncalled for. Put that thing down." she growled as the whole room burst out laughing at her reaction.

'It was brilliant. Now you know what to do.' Sid said turning into his gorilla form after he jumped from the table. He pulled Kidd from his seat and pushed Izumi into him.

'Now go take care of your problem. He should do just fine.' Sid said amused.

"No!" Izumi yelled, pushing Kidd away from her and ran out.

"What the fuck was that about?" Kidd asked glaring at Sid.

"He wanted you two to fuck so Zumi could get better." Wire chuckled, reading Sid's hand signs.

"I think I know what was wrong with Zumi. She's not in heat." Heat said alarmed and ran out after her.

Kidd and Killer looked at each other and follow after Heat curiously.

They found Izumi in her room, lying on her bed, panting and sweating a bit. She had her jean's zip undone and her shoes were kicked off as she tugged at the middle of her bikini.

Kidd could feel his cheeks heat up as he looked Izumi over. He had to admit that she was hot, even if she was ill, she managed to pull of being sexy.

"It's so hot." she whined with a weak voice.

"Idiot. You got a heat stroke." Heat said annoyed.

"Just fix her." Kidd said angrily and left in a hurry. He had to stop those thought from getting to a conclusion so he just ran out.

"A what?" she asked confused.

"You've been out in the sun for days, without anything to protect you from the sun's harsh rays. So now you're temperature is sky high, your heart is on overdrive, you're sweating buckets and you're probably also have a killer headache." Heat said unamused.

"But I feel like I'm dying." she said.

"Have you never had a fever before?" Killer asked concerned.

"I've never been sick before. I even avoided the common cold all my life. This is completely new to me." she said trying to get up but Heat pushed her back down.

"You need to rest and drink a lot of water." he said and walked out to get water and a wet cloth for her forehead.

Heat looked after her for most of the night, until she started to get better.

. . .

In the morning, Heat checked on her and she looked better so he left her to rest.

The guys were running around on deck, doing their jobs as Killer and Kidd were talking leisurely about where they were headed.

Izumi walked onto deck, looking a bit dazed as she was rubbing her eyes and swayed a little. Sid was yelling at her as he pulled her shirt down. She was only in her underwear and a grey t-shirt. Most of the guys turned their attention to her as most of her legs were revealed and the golden tiger stripes were a little more noticeable now. Kidd was stunned and just stared at her for a few seconds, looking her body over unconsciously, his eyes tracing every stripe on her arms and legs.

"What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting to get rid of the fever." Heat said running up to her alarmed as Kidd snapped out of his daze and walked up to her annoyed.

"I'm fine now." she said yawning.

"What the fuck are you doing walking around half naked on a ship full of men?!" Kidd yelled crossing his arms and glared down at her.

"I just woke up. Give me break." she frowned at him unamused.

"Go get fucking dressed." he growled but the only thing she did was turn into her tiger form and stared up at him.

"Is this alright?" she asked.

"You little bitch." he grumbled and walked off.

"Is your fever really gone? Come to the infirmary and I'll check you over." Heat said and she followed him there.

He was surprised that she got over the heat stroke so fast but glad she was already better and she walked off to shower and get dressed.

Later that day, she was talking to Jin about tattoos and her experiences. Somehow they ended up arguing over one of her coloured drawings. One said it was a more of a blue shade while the other said that it was more of a green.

The argument then got interrupted by everyone getting called for lunch and they bickered all the way to the galley.

"What are you idiots arguing about?" Kidd asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The snake is green." Izumi said.

"It's fucking blue." Jin growled.

"Killer." they both turned to him for a third opinion.

"It's green." he said.

"It's clearly blue. Zumi, I'm sorry to say this but you're colour blind and by the looks of it, so is Killer." Jake said deadpanning.

"Oh is it? I couldn't tell. I just thought that Zum's the artist so she must be right." he said with a shrug.

"Just sit down and eat." Kidd chuckled.

They did as told and finished their food.

Izumi followed Kidd into his workshop to have a little nap in there and then sat down beside him to watch him work.

"That looks awesome." she said smiling.

"Thanks. I make a lot of them when I just feel like it. It keeps me busy." he said smiling back.

"That's awesome. You think you can make some kind of medallion out of cogs and things for me? I lost my old one and I miss having something hanging from my neck." she asked smiling up at him.

"Sure. Why not?" he said with a shrug.

"Thank you. You're the best." she said and suddenly hugged him with her arms around his neck.

"Wha-what are you doing?" he asked surprised.

"You're warm." she hummed happily, getting distracted instantly.

"Let go." he frowned but didn't really try to move her away. He had to admit it kind of felt nice to have her hug him like that. So he just reached a hand up and curiously touched her tiger ears. She flicked it at first, then let him rub the soft fur as she started to purr.

"You really do start to purr." he said amused.

"You're comfortable. Let me sleep here." she murmured and moved onto his lap.

"Hey. Who said you could sit here?" he asked a tad annoyed but she had already fallen asleep.

"Damn woman." he grumbled blushing and got back to what he was doing with Izumi curled up in his lap and her head rested on his chest.

Looking down at her face, Kidd realised that her cheeks and nose were dusted with light freckles as her orange hair fell in her face with the white fringe. She really looked harmless in this state, though he knew better to write her off.

About half an hour later, Izumi stirred awake and looked up at Kidd surprised.

"What?" he asked deadpanning.

"I didn't expect to wake up here is all." she said smiling and he lightly blushed, looking into her yellow eyes.

"Shut up and get off already." he frowned.

"The colour of your eyes are beautiful." she said in awe.

"Get off or I'll shove you off." he growled.

"Alright, alright." she chuckled getting up.

"I like your hair as well." she added running her fingers through it quickly, then walked out, leaving Kidd blushing and annoyed at his body's reaction.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

For the next week they were sailing, Izumi did her yoga in the morning and wrote a little, she then later asked Killer to spar with her, then took a nap on the deck or in Kidd's room. She ended her day with writing but she round about kept this routine up. She talked a lot with the guys as well and she seemed to open up a lot to them now, making jokes and laughing together.

. . .

They were nearing a new island and Izumi was already excited to explore the autumn island.

"Calm down Zum. You can run off when we get there." Killer said chuckling.

"I love to explore and see new places." she said grinning up at him.

'Zum-Zum, I have a bad feeling about this.' Sid said from Wire's shoulder. Those two have became pretty good friends as well and Sid took to hanging around with him most the time now.

"Why? Is there something wrong with the island?" she asked looking up.

'I don't know. Just be cautious.' he said.

"Yeah. I'll try." she nodded.

"What's up?" Kidd asked.

"Sid has a bad feeling." Izumi said but she went back to her excitement.

As soon as they docked, Izumi was off and even Sid couldn't follow her this time.

It was a pretty big island with a lot buildings and people bustling around. Izumi walked through the city, looking at everything and taking all the new smells in.

Spotting an art shop, she happily walked in and looked around. Killer gave her money beforehand in case she wanted to buy something so she was set.

She found a few nice canvases and paint sets so she bought them and took them back to the ship.

Then she walked around the outskirts of the city to explore the wildlife.

After running around for about four hours and talking to the animals she met, she decided to take a little nap. There was a little park in the city and she curled up on one of the benches, happily taking a nap.

A few meters away from her, a Marine officer spotted Izumi and ran off to report it.

. . .

Izumi woke to the feeling of cold metal under her and around her wrists. Opening her eyes, she found herself in a cell with shackles on her wrists.

"Where am I?" she asked sitting up cross legged.

"You're in this island's Marine base cells." a man said as he walked up to the bars.

"And you are?" she asked calmly. He was obviously a Marine.

"My name is Adrian. I was the one who took you in. You know it was almost too easy. Falling asleep on a bench like that is way too careless Miss Izumi." he said with a smug grin.

"I was tired so I took a little nap. I'd like it if you let me go before I have to do it by force. I have to go back to my crew." she said deadpanning.

"Who do you think you are girl?" he asked laughing.

"You wont get out of here. We will take you to Impel Down and have you executed. You will never see that pathetic crew of yours." he laughed and opened the doors to her cell.

"But you know, you're quite hot. Maybe I'll have a little fun with you while your crew gets demolished by my men." he snickered.

"Don't underestimate the Kidd Pirates." she growled, glaring up at the guy as he crouched down in front of her. She was already against the wall so she couldn't shuffle away from him.

"Don't worry bitch, you'll enjoy this." he smirked, reaching a hand out to her and pulled her bound hands above her head.

"I'm warning you now. Stop or suffer the consequences." she growled with her ears low. She was starting to panic a little bit now. She could clearly feel the guy's lewd intent towards her and she didn't like it.

"What can you do? You're shackled." he chuckled and leaned in to trail sloppy kisses down her neck, making her growl.

"Shut up." he snapped and groped her breast roughly.

"This is your last warning." she growled out in a dark tone, her control slipping at an alarming rate as he kept up with his abuse.

It only took for him to reach under her shirt for her to snap. Izumi let out a loud growl and snapped the chain of her shackles with brute force, startling the guy. She emitted pure blood lust and anger.

"I warned you." she said in a dark and low tone that sent shivers of fear down his spine.

He tried to run but before he could even get to the door, Izumi pounced on him and ripped his throat out, followed by his guts and ripped his arms straight off.

She walked out of the cell area and slaughtered everyone in her way and anyone she came across.

Izumi left the Marine base soaked with blood and the place completely void of life.

She ran through town, towards where she could smell Kidd and killed the ones in her way, causing a big uproar in the city.

By the time she got to the bar the crew was chilling in, she was covered in blood and half the city was dead.

"What the fuck happened?" Kidd asked standing up as she walked in.

"Don't touch her." Wire suddenly said after Sid warned him and he ran up to her, turning to his gorilla form.

Kidd stopped in his tracks but glared at Izumi. She was letting out quite the ominous and blood thirsty aura as she was growling and her fists were clenched.

"Where the fuck were you?" Kidd asked confidently as she didn't scare him, unlike some of the others who were staring at her wide eyed and shocked.

Before she could pounce on Kidd, Sid tackled her and straddled her as she growled at him and dug her claws into his arms. He pulled out a blind fold and tied it over her eyes, trying to avoid her biting his hands with her sharp fangs but she still got him a few times. He quickly pulled out a strong rope and flipping her over, he tied her wrists behind her back and reinforced the shackles as well just to be on the safe side.

She wasn't too happy about it and struggled against his grip but he used his full strength to hold her down and finally banged her head on the floor, knocking her out.

He got off her and sat back panting and bleeding in several places. He turned back to his golden lion tamarin form and Heat walked up to him to treat his wounds while Wire translated his sign language.

"What the fuck was that?!" Kidd yelled annoyed. Everyone was very surprised to see the always cheery and laid back tigress so aggressive and blood thirsty.

"She has severe anger issues. If provoked or angered too much, she will snap and her tiger side will take over. She will be completely instinct driven and if anyone talks or touches her, she will attack them regardless of who they are." Wire translated Sid.

"This issue has been there from a very young age due to mistreatment and lack of proper upbringing. They have been trying to teach her to keep it under control for many years now. We're all just lucky she can't use her fire in this state." he explained.

"I knew she had a darker side. She was too cheery for her childhood." Killer said.

"Isn't there any way to calm her down?" Kidd asked.

"Either knock her out cold or surprise her. Otherwise anything you try will end up with blood." Wire said.

"What will happen after she wakes up?" Killer asked.

"She will be calm but Sid will call Shiro to talk to her and have her usual therapy session." Wire explained and Sid was all patched up by Heat.

"She caused quite the uproar by the looks of it." Kidd smirked looking outside.

"She can't control her killing streak in this state." Wire said as Sid jumped on his shoulder.

No one wanted to touch her and they stayed in that little bar while Sid called this Shiro.

A few hours later, a big white owl flew into the bar and Sid greeted it. He got a chair and put it in front of Izumi as Shiro sat on the top of the backrest and Sid on the seat.

Izumi started to stir and sat up grumbling and cross legged so she was facing Sid.

'You're finally awake.' Sid said crossing his arms.

"My head is killing me. What the hell happened? The last thing I remember is that fucker's hand in my shirt. Why am I blinded and my hands bound?" she asked moving around a little as the others were watching curiously.

'You snapped.' Sid simply said.

"Figures. That fucker tried to rape me. Everything he got, he had it coming." she said frowning and stopped moving.

'Do you realise what you have done?!' Sid yelled annoyed.

"Yes. Most likely killed a bunch of people, if the smell of blood on me is anything to go by." she said casually. To everyone's surprise, Sid then back handed her across the face.

"What was that for?" she growled annoyed but not like she was earlier.

'Do you realise how many innocent people you have killed?' he asked again.

"They were just people. It's not that big of a deal. People die all the fucking time." she said and earned another slap.

'Have some fucking respect. You need to learn the value of life.' Sid growled.

"Why should I fucking care? All people have ever done was push me to the ground and make me an outcast. The only people I ever got respect from was the ones from Ruby Lagoon and the fucking Kidd Pirates. Why the fuck should I care about the rest of humanity?" she asked with her ears sticking down and Sid back handed her again.

'If you don't open up to people, how do you expect for them to open up to you?' he asked.

"I don't want others to open up to me. I'm good thanks." she grumbled.

'I give up.' he said throwing his hands in the air.

'Izumi. You need to learn how to control your anger my child.' Shiro the white owl said calmly.

"I know. I just don't know how." she said a little desperately.

'You need to calm down before you get to the last stage.' he said.

The Kidd Pirates just watched intrigued as Sid and the owl talked to Izumi and she replied. They seemed to have lectured her on her actions and other people. It was surprising that Sid raised a hand to her but they guessed he was angry that she killed so many people.

Surprisingly she just sat there and took it all. Eventually, Sid took off her blindfold and the ropes along with the shackles.

He walked up to Wire and just flopped on the table in front of them.

"You alright?" Wire asked amused as he signalled some stuff back.

"What did he say?" Heat asked.

"Zumi's a handful. She doesn't understand the value of life and all the blood and gore wont even make her flinch." Wire said as Sid sighed.

Izumi was intently listening to Shiro so they left her alone but a few hours later they were done. Shiro said his goodbyes and flew off.

"Done with your therapy session?" Killer asked as she walked up to them.

"I'm exhausted." she grumbled and sat down, laying her head on the table.

"We should look around town. I actually wanna see what you've done. These fuckers have been panicking for hours but no Marine's showed up yet." Kidd said amused.

"I killed them all." Izumi said like she was complementing the nice weather.

"I'm sure the city has already alerted them. The log pose will set tomorrow so we should keep alert." Killer said.

"Alright. Let's go." Kidd said grinning as they all stood up. Sid jumped on Wire's shoulder and Izumi just turned into a tiger cub.

"Really?" Kidd asked deadpanning but picked her up none the less.

They walked out into the streets and were impressed to see blood soaked streets with body parts scattered everywhere. She really went all out.

By the time they got back to the ship, the Marines have arrived and Izumi woke up as well.

She jumped out of Kidd's arms and shifting back to human, beat the ever loving crap out of the Marines with the crew's help.

"You know Zum, for your sweet and cheerful personality, you are actually terrifying." Killer said chuckling as he patted her on the head.

"Every sweet thing has a dark side. I thought it was obvious I had something evil hidden beneath the surface." she said smiling.

"Haha. You fit right in with us." Kidd laughed and they walked onto the ship.

It was already getting dark and everyone just did their own thing. Izumi ran off to her room and Sid said that she had to write a report on what happened when she snapped. Apparently it helped her and she had to do it every time.

. . .

The sun was rising and this was usually the time that Killer woke. He was about to get up, when he noticed something soft and fluffy lying on his fare chest. Looking down, he was met with the face of a sleeping golden tiger.

"Zum?" he asked surprised and quickly put his mask back on, that was on his bedside table.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Morning Killer." she mumbled and sat up.

"What are you doing in my bed?" he asked chuckling.

"You're warm so I wanted to sleep here." she said and laid back down on his chest.

"Is that so?" he chuckled and scratched behind her ear, making her purr and drift off to sleep again.

"It's time to get up. Don't you wanna do your yoga?" he asked as she opened her eyes again.

"But you're so comfy." she purred.

A few minutes later, she got up and walked out leaving Killer amused. She did her usual morning routine and after breakfast, headed into town.

"Iz. Wait up. Where you going?" Kidd called after her as she stopped and he caught up to her.

"Just to get some stuff." she said smiling.

"You're not going on your own. You will only get into more trouble." he said and the two of them walked off.

They walked through the blood stained streets and body parts.

"What are you looking for anyway?" Kidd asked curiously.

"Art." she simply replied as he raised an eyebrow.

They walked around for a bit longer until they came across a severed female's head and Izumi ran up to it.

"What the fuck?" Kidd asked unamused.

Izumi picked the head up and looked it over.

"What do you want with that?" he asked.

"I will strip the skull of all the flesh and polish it. I still haven't figured out what I will do to after." she said smiling at him.

"This is what you meant by art?" he asked amused.

"Yeah. I usually make something out of the remains of the people I kill after I snapped." she explained as they headed back.

"Interesting. And you know how to clean it?" he asked looking at her as she was twisting the head in her hands.

"Yup. Done it before." she chuckled and as soon as they got back to the ship, she walked off to her room.

She got a bucket of hot water along with an empty one to put all the discarded flesh in. She moved into the bathroom to clean the skull so she wouldn't make a mess in her room. In a couple of hours, she was done and got to polishing the skull after lunch.

"Yo Zumi. What'cha doing?" Jin asked as he walked into her room.

"Polishing a skull." she said nonchalantly as she was scrubbing it.

"As you do. What will you do with it? I heard captain say you wanted to turn it into art." he said sitting down on the edge of her bed as she was by her desk.

"Carve into it or paint it. I haven't decided yet." she said smiling.

"How bout both? You can carve something in it and fill in the lines with paint." he suggested.

"That's not a bad idea actually. Thanks Jin." she grinned.

"No worries. I'll leave you to it then. Killer said that we'll set sail in the afternoon." he said then left.

. . .

A few hours later, they set sail and Izumi walked onto the deck to join Kidd and Killer.

"You alright?" Killer asked.

"Yup. Taking a little break." she smiled.

"Hows your work going with that skull?" Kidd asked.

"Pretty good. Jin helped me with the ideas. All I have to do now is finish carving it and paint it." she grinned.

"Sounds good." Killer smiled under his mask and patted her on the head.

"I need a nap." she yawned and turning into her full tiger, laid down beside them, promptly falling asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After Izumi woke up and they had their dinner, she walked back to Kidd's workshop to finish off carving her skull.

The ship hit a big storm at night and fought threw it for a few hours until they managed to escape. Everyone was soaked and exhausted by the end of it. Of course Izumi stayed in Kidd's workshop for the whole thing and he found her under his desk when he walked in to check on her.

"What the hell are you doing under there?" Kidd asked crossing his arms.

"I don't like thunder." she said with her ears sticking down.

"That's pathetic." he chuckled but seeing the panic and fear on her face, he sat down beside her and pulled her onto his lap, letting her rest her head on his chest.

She was surprised at first but relaxed and stopped shaking after a while. Listening to his soothing heart beat, she managed to drift off to sleep for a few minutes until she calmed down completely.

Izumi opened her eyes and looked up at Kidd smiling.

"I feel at ease with you. It's different when gran used to hold me to shield me from the storm. Or even when gramps Garp used to hold me and tell me it was okay to be different." she said looking down.

"But with you it's different. I can't explain it and I don't understand it but with you I feel relaxed and accepted." she said softly.

"I protect my crew. That goes for you too." he said surprisingly softly and reached a hand up to rub behind her ears. She closed her eyes and started purring, resting her head on his chest again. Kidd blushed lightly and let out an amused sigh.

"I need to finish the skull." she said quietly after a while and sat up straight.

"How much do you have left to do?" Kidd asked helping her stand as he followed suit.

"I only have to paint it now." she smiled and walked up to it.

"Let's see." Kidd called walking up behind her.

Izumi held it up and he took it. Looking it over, he had a pretty impressed look on his face.

Giving it back, Izumi walked off to her room and finished painting it. She ended up finishing pretty late at night and turned into her tiger form. From then, she just followed her instincts and ended up in the crew's bunks. She climbed in beside Heat and fell asleep.

. . .

In the morning, Heat was very surprised to find tiger Izumi beside him, but not wanting to make a fuss and wake the other guys, he just softly shook her awake.

"Zumi, wake up." he whispered as she opened her eyes.

"Heat. Hi." she said looking up at him with curious yellow eyes.

"What are you doing here? When did you come in?" he asked amused.

"Last night. I like to sleep beside people. Makes me feel safe." she said and jumped out of his bed.

"Is that so? Does that mean you trust us now?" he asked sitting up.

"Yeah. I woke beside Killer yesterday." she chuckled and walked out in her tiger form still.

Later she showed the guys the skull and they were pretty impressed with what she did with it. It had a lot of curly lines carved into it all over and the lines were filled in with paint, fading from red to black from the top to the bottom.

After the usual morning routine, she asked Killer to spar with her again.

It was always fun to fight him because he didn't hold back and it was exciting.

"You're getting faster Zum." Killer chuckled as he jumped back, making some space between them.

"Thanks. Hey, how about a bet?" she asked grinning.

"Alright. I'm game." he said smirking under his mask.

Her lips pulled into a mischievous smirk and she stood up straight.

"When I beat you in our sparring session, you have to take that mask off and show me your face." she said confidently.

"If you can beat me then I will show you." he said chuckling and they shook hands.

"You're going down." she growled grinning as she pulled him lower by the arm.

"I see you're competitive." Killer said amused.

"You have no idea." she laughed.

"Don't go overboard." Kidd said amused.

"Can't promise anything." she grinned, sticking her tongue out.

"Anyway. I need a shower. Thanks for the fight." she grinned at Killer and walked off below deck.

For the rest of the afternoon she just loitered around the ship pretty bored as she couldn't think of anything to do and didn't feel like napping. At some point she disappeared and the crew could only wonder where she went. It wasn't until later when she called them for dinner that she showed up.

"Where's Jake?" Killer asked raising an eyebrow under his mask as Izumi was the one to serve them food.

"He didn't feel well and went to bed early so I took over. I hope you like my cooking." she smiled as Sid face palmed.

"And what the fuck are you covered in?" Kidd asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"Uhm, flour. I made a batch of cookies for Jake." she said and shook her head to get all the flour out of it.

"I hope I didn't fuck the food up. I followed the recipe to a tee." she said sitting down.

"It's good. Don't worry." Heat said patting her on the head and she grinned up at him.

After everyone ate and left to do their work, Izumi was left to do the cleaning up. Thankfully, Killer offered to help her and they finished quickly.

"Thanks for the help Killer. I needed it." she said smiling.

"No worries." he smiled back.

"Iz. What exactly happened to Jake?" Kidd asked, walking into the kitchen as she was setting up the cookies she made.

"He tripped and I had nothing to do with it." she said messing with the cookies.

"Is that so?" Kidd asked amused, not really believing her.

"Those look nice. Give me one." he said walking up to her.

"No. They're for Jake." she said frowning and stood in front of them so Kidd couldn't reach them. Meanwhile Killer just watched amused.

"I'm the captain. Give me one." Kidd said trying to reach behind her but she pushed him back. He wasn't wearing his fluffy coat or the belt across his torso with the weapons on.

"No Kidd. I can make a new batch for you if you want but these aren't for you." she said trying to push him off but he was stronger.

He stepped to one side to get around her but she stepped in front of him. This repeated for a while but surprisingly Kidd was amused rather than angry with her. With one swift movement, he grabbed her and spun them around so he could get to the cookies. She reached her arms around his stomach and pulled him back making him laugh and jumped in front of the cookies again.

"You won't give in, will you?" Kidd asked grinning.

"Nope." she smirked back.

He launched at her again and she countered him by grabbing his hands and pushing him back. They pushed against each other for a while until Kidd finally overpowered her and managed to grab a cookie.

"No fair. Hey." she whined and tried to grab the cookie out of his hand. Kidd just held it high in the air where she couldn't reach it.

"Hahaha. You're too fucking short." Kidd laughed.

"This will only end up in pain for you. Damn metal head." she grumbled trying to reach it.

"Oh really?" he asked amused, pulling her away from him by her arm.

"Yeah. You shouldn't take what is meant for another person anyway." she frowned.

"I'm a fucking pirate and a captain at that. I do what I fucking want, thanks." he chuckled and took a big bite out of the cookie. She just stared at him for a few seconds with her ears stuck down.

He suddenly frowned and yelled in pain as she ran off to the fridge.

"What the fuck was in those cookies?! Are you trying to fucking kill Jake?!" Kidd yelled in pain as he spat what was in his mouth in the bin and threw the cookie he bit into away as well.

She quickly ran back to him with a big glass of milk.

"I told you not to eat it." she said as he chugged the milk.

"Ahh. It still fucking burns. What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you put chilly in the cookies?!" he asked trying to calm the burn in his mouth.

"I uh. I felt bad for what I did to Jake so I tried to make him cookies. I followed the recipe that was bookmarked perfectly. I thought he was just weird and liked chillies." she explained trying to help Kidd while Killer was laughing his balls off, holding onto the kitchen counter to stop him from falling.

"What the hell have you done to him?" Kidd asked unamused as she got him more milk.

"I was bored so I tried to convince him to let me help cook. He didn't let me so I just knocked him out and did something to his hair. I felt bad about knocking him out so I made these." she said.

"Let's see the recipe you used." Killer said calming his laughter.

She pulled out the book and handed it to him on the page the recipe she used was on.

It was a recipe for chilly chocolate chip cookies and beside the chilly on the ingredients list was a little note saying to times the amount by 10.

"This is the recipe for Heat's cookies." Killer said amused.

"How should _I_ have known that?" she asked pouting.

"It says it here at the top Zum. Didn't you notice it?" Killer said chuckling as he showed it to her.

"I was in a hurry to get dinner ready for you guys and it was bookmarked so I thought it was his favourite." she said with her ears low.

"It's fine. You tried to do something nice but made a mistake. No worries." he said patting her head.

"It's not fucking fine. You set my mouth on fire. Make another batch for me but this time use a normal recipe." Kidd said glaring at her.

"I fucking warned you." she said unamused.

"I don't care. Take responsibility." he growled and walked out.

"Good luck." Killer chuckled and was about to leave when she stopped him.

"Take these to Heat then. I made them and I don't want them to go to waste." she said handing him the plate.

"Will do." he said and walked out.

She got to work and made Kidd's cookies but not without getting covered in flour again.

Putting them on a plate while they were still warm and getting a glass of milk as well, she put them on a tray and followed Kidd's scent to his workshop.

"I got your cookies." she said closing the door behind her and placed the tray on the table beside him.

"Oh, thanks." he said smiling back.

"What'cha doing?" she asked sitting across from him.

"Just a new robot." he said and took a cookie. He sniffed it and looked it over.

"I made it properly this time. You know I'm not that bad a cook." she said dead panning. He just chuckled and took a bite from it.

"It's good." he simply said and finished it.

"Should be. I cleaned up my mess so I can relax a bit." Izumi said and took one as well.

"I love it while they're still warm." she grinned and happily ate it.

"It's nice. Thanks for the milk." Kidd grinned.

"No worries captain." she said surprising Kidd that she called him that without any sarcasm.

. . .

In the morning, everyone woke as usual and Izumi was up on the ship's yard by the main mast, just writing.

"IZUMI!" yelled Jake from below deck and they looked to her curiously.

"What did you do?" Wire asked from the crows nest as she didn't even look bothered by Jake's angry tone.

"Not much." she replied and jumped down to the deck as Jake made it up as well.

"What the fuck have you done to my hair, you bitch?!" he asked angrily as he stomped up to her with his usual green hair now purple.

"You rock that purple." she grinned.

He didn't reply but turning his arms to vines, he sent the leaves on them at her. They were as sharp as knives and she jumped out of the way of them as they got embedded in the floor.

"Wow. Calm down, I was bored and your hair just called out to me." she said amused, avoiding all his attacks. The crew was pretty amused by the situation as well as they watched the two run around deck.

"You little bitch. Turn it back to normal now!" he yelled as he finally caught her with his vine arm and lifted her up in the air.

"Uh I don't think it will come out that quickly. It's kinda permanent but you're a pretty little flower so you should be able to fix it." she laughed and as Jake turned red in the face from anger, he lobbed her overboard and into the sea.

"Jake!" some of the guys yelled at him but Izumi soon climbed back up in her tiger form.

"Sorry, sorry." she giggled turning back to her soaking wet human form.

"A fucking 'sorry' wont cut it." he said angrily.

"Jake calm down man. She was just bored." Killer said resting a hand on his shoulder as he shut up and crossed his arms.

"Izumi. Don't dye his hair again." he said looking at her.

"I won't sorry." she said with sincerity in her eyes.

"Fine. Did you feed these idiots last night? None of them seem to have food poisoning." he said looking around.

"She's surprisingly a decent cook." Heat said chuckling.

"Thanks again for those cookies. I loved them." he said grinning at her.

"No problem. I had to cook for gran so I'm not so bad." she said smiling.

"Just don't touch my hair again." Jake sighed and walked off.

"I wont." she pouted.

"Go shower." Killer chuckled and she walked off as well.

Later on, Izumi was drawing on deck when three guys walked up to her.

"Can I help you?" she asked looking up at them.

"We want some tattoos if you wont mind." one of them said.

"Not at all. Let's go to my room and we can talk over the details." she said smiling and got up.

They happily told her their ideas and she suggested better ideas and placements. They agreed to them and she got to drawing up the designs for the guys.

It took her all day to finish the drawing and do their tattoos as well so she was out of trouble.

At night she was writing as usual and joined Killer in his night shift in the crows nest, writing beside a lantern.

"Can I borrow that book of yours again? I'd like to see what you wrote." he asked.

"Sure. I've written quite a few stories since you last looked at it." she grinned up at him.

"Shouldn't you be going to sleep? It's getting pretty late." he said looking at her.

"You're right. I'm getting tired now." she yawned and stood up.

She left the book with him and jumped down to deck, then walked off.

. . .

For the next two weeks they were sailing, the crew found tiger Izumi asleep beside most of them when they woke up or traces that she was there.

"Why wont she ever show up beside me?" Kidd asked Killer as they were talking about the matter as she was doing another crew mate's tattoo.

"You're the captain and alpha of this crew. She sees you as a rival and equal still." Wire said with Sid on his shoulders as he just said what the monkey told him.

"Is that so?" Kidd asked annoyed.

"She will open up in the end. Being a dominant beast herself, it takes a while to accept a human as her alpha." Wire explained.

"I'll tame her, just you wait." Kidd smirked and walked off.

They were nearing a winter island and Izumi got dressed as they had about half an hour until they docked.

She put on black skinny jeans with her black lace up boots, a long burgundy shirt, white scarf and a dark grey coat that reached down to her butt and had red fluff at the hood and bottom hem.

She walked onto deck as she pulled on a pair of black mittens.

"You look ready for the weather." Killer said chuckling as they looked at her.

"In my human form, I can't take the cold as well as the tiger form. To be honest, my tiger form is all around more durable to both attacks and weather." she said smiling.

"That's handy. The Tama's really were a powerful tribe, weren't they?" Killer asked.

"Apparently." she said with a shrug.

"You're not running off this time." Kidd said glaring down at Izumi.

"Then keep up with me." she said smirking up at him.

"Is that a challenge?" Kidd grinned.

"Maybe." she replied.

"You're on." he smirked.

True to their statements, both Kidd and Izumi ran off as soon as their foot touched snow.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

As Kidd and Izumi ran off, the rest of the crew just did what Killer told them and got on with their tasks.

Izumi ran around in the snow and explored it with curiosity and wonder.

"Have you never seen snow before?" Kidd asked chuckling as he watched her run around excitedly.

"I've never been to a winter island either." she said grinning and picked some snow up.

"Aren't you cold like that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at his attire. He wasn't wearing any extra, just what he usually did.

"Not really." Kidd replied and picked some snow up as well.

As she was focused on a tree, he made a snow ball and lobbed it at her. It hit her square on the back, making her jump.

"What the hell was that?" she asked looking at him.

"A snow ball." he chuckled and threw another one at her that she dodged this time.

"That's cool." she grinned and made one too.

From then on, the two got into a heavy snow ball fight that lasted quite a few hours of running around in the woods.

"Aren't you tired yet?" Kidd asked panting.

"I could ask you the same thing." she called back in a similar state.

"Let's call it a day, shall we?" he asked walking out from behind a tree.

"Yeah. I want something hot to drink." Izumi smiled joining him and they started to walk back to town.

"Its getting dark now as well." Kidd commented looking at the sky.

"Stop." she suddenly said, reaching an arm out to stop him and her ears stuck down.

"What's up?" he asked alert.

"I smell blood." she said and they followed the scent of it to find a guy with a gun and a little snow lapahn cub. He was pointing the gun at the little scared and already bleeding creature when Izumi ran forward and stood protectively in front of the cub and growled at the guy.

"Who the fuck are you? Don't get involved." the guy frowned and pointed his gun at Izumi.

Before he could shoot her though, Kidd repelled his knife into the guy's torso and Izumi pounced on him, ripping his throat out. The guy fell to the snow as his blood pooled around him and he died choking on it.

"Nice." Kidd chuckled walking up to them.

Izumi ignored him and turned back to the lapahn. She murmured something to it and it replied. She picked it up and turned to Kidd with a smile.

"We need to take him back to his parents. They live up on the mountains." she said gesturing to it with her hand.

"Do we have to? Can't you just leave it here?" Kidd asked not awfully fond of the idea as he wiped and put his knife back in it's sheath.

"No. He will die on his own. Let's go." she said and turned around to walk away.

"Damn woman." Kidd cursed but followed her anyway.

By the time they got to the rest of the lapahns, it was already dark and they greeted them growling.

Izumi talked to them and they ran up to her sniffing her and the mother took the little cub. They thanked her and walked away happily.

"You done now?" Kidd asked slightly impatiently.

"Yeah, we can go now." she smiled and they headed down.

Halfway down the mountain, they spotted the silhouette of a person and stopped curiously.

"What now?" Kidd asked unamused.

"You have killed a man and stained the pure snow with his blood." the woman said in a sinister voice. Both Kidd and Izumi got a bad feeling and they took a step back, getting into fighting stances.

"You must be punished. You must learn the value of life and the weight of death." she said and started chanting. The sky was suddenly engulfed in blue and green lights, creating an aurora.

Their eyes widened with panic as they felt their bodies heat up and pain coursed through their veins like liquid fire.

Before either of them could do or say anything, they lost consciousness and the woman walked up to them smirking.

. . .

The Kidd Pirates were done with all the errands that they had to do and took refuge from the cold in a warm little bar.

They waited for their captain and tigress for quite a while but they never turned up so they started to get a little worried.

"They're fine. Stop worrying." Killer said standing up.

"It's getting late. Let's go back to the ship. I'm sure they will turn up eventually, besides we have a week until the log pose will set." he said and they walked back to the ship but not without scouting the area.

In the morning, the two were still a no show and they walked back into town to look for them.

The town's people seemed to be in a panic and they found out that one of the men were killed last night. The guy was the mayor's son with a wife and two kids. He was a hunter and one of the guards of the town so it caused a pretty big uproar.

He was found near the woods, with a knife wound in his chest and his throat ripped out.

Killer immediately recognised it as Kidd and Izumi's work and got a bit uneasy about their whereabouts.

He rounded the crew up and set out to look for them. They asked around in the town and sent some groups into the forest to look for them too.

"Who are you looking for dear?" asked an old lady as Killer was walking down the streets with Wire, Sid and Heat beside him.

"My captain and a girl. A pretty tall guy with red hair and a girl with orange hair and tiger features." he said.

"I haven't seen anyone like that." she said but then got a look of thoughtfulness on her face.

"If they were the ones to break the blood rule, then Kirala might have taken them." she said nodding.

"Who is that? Where does she live?" Killer asked alarmed but kept his cool.

"She's this island's witch. No one actually knows where she lives. I hope you find your friends before its too late." she said and walked off.

"Damn it. What have they got themselves into now?" Heat said frowning.

"Can we never dock at an island and not have trouble?" Killer asked annoyed and they walked off to look for this witch.

. . .

Izumi woke with a headache and sat up a little dizzy still. She found herself in a room with wooden walls and only the bed she was in. Looking around a little more, she found a red haired child beside her. Not being a big fan of children she shuffled away from him a little but realised something very wrong with her body.

Looking down, she saw tiny hands and feet with her tail attacked to the child's body. It was her own body she was looking at, she was turned into a child. She felt her face and ears as well, everything seemed to be there and there were no injuries but the only problem was the child part. She then suddenly remembered what happened last night with the aurora and the old lady.

Snapping her head to the little boy next to her, she sniffed him and her eyes widened at the familiar scent. It was Kidd, he was turned into a child as well. They must have been around 3 years old with how small they were.

She turned him over to his back and just stared at him for a moment. He didn't have his googles on and his face was softer and baby like. He was only in a pair of brown trousers and a grey t-shirt, just like she was in a pair of dark grey trousers and a red t-shirt.

"Kidd, wake up." she said in a child's voice, flinching at the sound a little but shook his shoulders gently.

He finally opened his orange eyes and looked at her. His eyes went wide and he shuffled away from her surprised.

"What the? Iz?" he asked in a child's voice also, surprising himself as he looked down at his body.

He started to panic a little but Izumi stopped him.

"I dunno what happened but I know it has everything to do with that old hag and those lights last night." she said frowning.

"What the hell? I can't become the Pirate King in this state!" he yelled frustrated.

"How do you think I feel?" she frowned with her ears sticking down.

Before they could complain more, the door suddenly opened and in walked a woman in her 80s but still looked like she held herself well.

"Turn us back, you old hag!" Kidd yelled immediately.

"No can do." she chuckled.

"And why not? What are we supposed to do like this? We're pirates." Izumi complained as well.

"I don't care. You should have thought about it when you killed that man." she said crossing her arms.

"This is because of that? You have got to be kidding me." Kidd growled.

"You need to learn the value of life and the weight of death." she snapped back.

"I don't care. Turn us back!" Kidd yelled again.

"I will do no such thing until you learn your lesson, punk!" she yelled back.

Frowning, Izumi turned into her tiger form but it was only a little cub.

"No way. I can't turn to my big form." she complained.

Kidd tried to activate his Devil Fruit as well but he couldn't control it.

"What have you done to us?" Izumi asked turning back and glared at her.

"I simply turned you into children. The sooner you learn your lessons the sooner I will turn you back." she said frowning at them.

"Are you a Devil Fruit user?" Izumi asked.

"No. I'm a witch." she said leaning against the wall.

"Turn us back or I will kill you." Kidd threatened her.

"You can't do anything in that body." she laughed.

"Who are you? Why do you care that we killed that guy?" Izumi asked, calming down a little and pulled Kidd back to sit down.

"My name is Kirala. I'm this island's protector and peace keeper. You know there's a rule that whoever kills another person on the island will pay a hefty price." she said chuckling.

"How the hell should we have known that?" Kidd grumbled annoyed.

"Not my problem. Learn your lesson and you can go." Kirala said glaring at him.

"Where are we?" Izumi asked with a sigh.

"Deep in the forest at the base of the mountain. My house is well hidden but your friends are already looking for you." she explained.

"You will be ripped to shreds when they find you." Kidd said grinning.

"If I die, you will stay like this forever." she simply said.

"Damn it!" Kidd yelled.

"Where's our stuff?" Izumi asked trying to figure the situation out instead of yelling for no reason.

"You're clothes and weapons are in the next room. I had to change you into those clothes. Your old ones were too big." she said and walked out. Izumi jumped up and pulled Kidd with her to follow Kirala.

They followed her into another room, where their stuff was.

Kidd immediately pulled his goggled over his head but they were too big so he pulled them down to his neck.

"You know, you look cute with your hair down like that." Izumi said chuckling and earned a death glare from Kidd.

"As a child. You're cute as a child." she corrected herself with her hands up in surrender.

"Don't ever call me that again." he grumbled.

"Okay." she pouted.

"What are your names?" Kirala asked.

"Eustass Kidd." he said crossing his arms.

"Izumi." she said looking up at her.

"What are you girl?" she asked.

"You don't need to know that." Izumi replied with a cold tone.

"Harsh. No wonder you ended up like this." Kirala chuckled.

"I won't be nice to the one who turned me into a child." she glared at her.

"Learn your lesson and I'll turn you back. Anyway, you must be hungry." she said and lead them to the kitchen. She was surprisingly nice and patient with them, despite the fact they yelled at her and were rude.

"I cursed you but I'm not a complete monster to let two helpless children suffer on their own." Kirala said as they sat down by the counter and she handed them two plates of food.

They looked at it a bit warily but Izumi's stomach made a noise and she blushed.

"You can eat it. There's nothing wrong with my food." Kirala said chuckling.

With a sigh, they dug in and they were surprised to be more hungry than expected.

"Your friends are nearly here." she said looking out the window.

"Led by a man and a monkey." she added.

"Killer/Sid." they said at the same time grinning.

It didn't take long for the guys to arrive and as Killer kicked the door down with his spinning scythes ready, Kidd and Izumi ran up to him happily. They were shocked to see the two kids and as soon as they started talking, they were sure it was who they were looking for.

"What happened to you guys?" Killer asked frowning under his mask.

"We killed someone and now we have to learn some lesson." Izumi said frowning as Killer crouched down beside the two.

"Izumi jumped in front of the guy's gun to protect some damn rabbit. It's all that thing's fault." Kidd grumbled with his arms crossed.

"It was an innocent child that would have been killed for no reason. I wasn't gonna let that happen. Besides, you were the one who attacked that guy first." she argued back, glaring at Kidd.

"What? He was going to shoot you! You were the one to rip that guy's throat out! You killed him!" Kidd growled back.

"Are you kidding? You can't blame me for this!" she yelled tearing up. She couldn't help her child impulses and started to cry as Sid turned to his gorilla form and pulled her into a hug.

"I just wanted to help that lapahn. I didn't mean any harm. Why does he have to yell at me?" she cried as Killer and the others just watched shell shocked.

"It's not my fault she started crying." Kidd frowned.

Sid managed to calm her down and picked her up.

"Is she alright?" Killer asked as Sid nodded.

'Why are you so sensitive all of a sudden?' he asked Izumi.

"I only tried to help and he's being unreasonable. This situation sucks. He's not the only one that's annoyed." she said frowning.

"It's all your fault. You always run off and get into trouble. Why did we have to get turned into children?" Kidd growled annoyed.

"It's not my fault that these things happen! I can't control them and I don't do it on purpose!" she yelled back, jumping out of Sid's arms and walked up to Kidd angrily.

"If you could just stay still and chill, none of this would happen!" Kidd yelled back.

"I am chill! How bout _you_ chill once in a while, you damn hot headed metal freak!" she yelled angering him.

"What did you call me? You're the impulsive one! You damn shorty!" he yelled back.

"Guys." Killer said trying to calm them down.

"Stay out of this!" they both yelled and went back to throwing insults at each other as Kirala watched amused.

"Would you just shut up." Killer growled, raising his voice as he picked the two up by the back of their shirts and banged their heads together, promptly shutting them up.

"Arguing wont get us anywhere and it really doesn't matter who was at fault anymore." he said standing up as they dangled in his grip.

"What is the lesson they need to learn?" he asked looking at Kirala.

"Value of life and weight of death." she said amused.

"This wont be easy." he said with a sigh.

"This will take a while." Heat commented as well.

"This sucks." Izumi frowned.

"Tell me about it." Kidd sighed.

Killer put them down and faced Kirala again.

"Isn't there some other way they can make up to it?" he asked.

"Why?" she asked glaring at him.

"They're not the type to just learn that stuff so quickly and we need to set sail in a week." he explained.

"They either learn their lesson or give me something in return for turning them back." she smirked. She could tell that what Killer said was true and she wasn't that ill mannered to fuck them over this much.

"What?" Izumi asked.

"Let me see." Kirala said in thought.

"How about . . . you stay like this for the remaining week, tell me exactly what you are and answer my questions and also make amends with the family of the man you killed." she said smirking.

"What?!" both Kidd and Izumi yelled.

"I don't want to." they both said and glared at each other.

"Stop copying me!" they yelled annoyed.

"You stop." again.

"Guys. This is better than the other option" Killer said breaking their arguing.

"They'll do it." he said nodding at Kirala.

"Perfect. Come with me little tigress, you have a tale to tell." Kirala chuckled and walked off.

"Zum, go." Killer nodded, pushing her towards the witch.

"But . . ." she frowned.

"Just go Iz. One more person knowing about your heritage wont hurt." Kidd said patting her head.

"Fine." she pouted but followed after the witch none the less.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

After Izumi got dragged into Kirala's room, she was asked a lot of questions about what she was and her past. She answered them all as much as she could, albeit a bit warily. She never liked to talk about her past or what she was, the only reason she said so much to Kidd and Killer was that they were her nakama.

Kirala made lunch for all of them and Killer stressed the fact they had to behave and turn back by the end of the week.

"You have to make amends with the family of the man you killed." Kirala said finishing up the dishes.

"Do we have to?" Kidd asked with an annoyed sigh.

"Yes." she said glaring at him.

"I don't wanna go near other people." Izumi said frowning with her ears sticking down.

"Why do you guys act so differently?" Heat asked looking at the two children.

"They're acting the way they used to at this age. When I cursed them and they turned into children, their personalities turned back as well." Kirala explained.

"So I guess then captain used to be a lot more patient and calm while Izumi was very sensitive." Wire said in thought.

"Yeah." Killer nodded.

"Come on, get dressed. I got some coats and boots for you two." Kirala said handing them the items.

They got dressed and ready while the guys still had trouble getting used to them.

"Let's go. They wont take it well but you have to try." Kirala said as they left her house.

Sid turned to his gorilla form and let Izumi sit on his back.

"You alright up there?" Killer asked, looking up at Izumi.

"Yeah. I just don't want to do this at all." she replied frowning.

"You'll be fine." Kidd said looking up at her.

As soon as they reached the town Kirala stopped them and turned to the guys.

"You go back to your ship and don't cause any trouble. I will take care of these two." she said shooing them away and even Sid had to leave with them.

"Alright. Come on. They live just around the corner." Kirala said walking away.

Kidd turned to walk after her but noticed that Izumi had her ears down and clutched the hem of her coat.

"You alright?" he asked walking up to her.

"I'm scared." she frowned, staring at the floor.

"There's nothing to be scared of." he said amused.

"But they will just attack me and call me names as everyone else used to when I was this age." she said tearing up.

"If they do, then I will beat them up." he said grinning confidently.

"But you can't." she said looking up at him as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Hey. We're pirates. We get called all sorts of stuff but we're here for each other. I will protect you so just stay close to me." he said looking her in the eyes and pulled her into a hug, surprising her. She didn't move at first but then hugged him back, enjoying the warm feeling he gave her.

"Kidd." she said softly and smiled as he let her go.

"Come on. Let's get this shit over with so we can turn back." he smiled and took her hand in his, walking up to Kirala who was just smirking at them.

She let out a chuckle and led them to the house. Knocking, she stepped back and waited for the door to be opened.

"Yes? How can I help you?" a woman asked. She looked pretty under the weather and her eyes were red from crying.

"I'm the island's witch, Kirala. I'm sure you've heard of me." she said smiling as the woman looked at her shocked.

"Are you here about the murder of my husband?" she asked upset.

"Yes. I've brought with me the murderers." she said stepping back so Kidd and Izumi could be seen.

Kidd looked up at the woman confidently, while Izumi looked everywhere but at her, squeezing Kidd's hand.

"What? Why did you bring these monsters here? You don't have to rub salt to injury." the woman cried and tried to shut the door but Kirala stopped her.

"They want to make amends. Let them do it." Kirala said and the woman eventually let them in.

They were sat in the living room, Kirala, Kidd and Izumi sat on the sofa while Erika (the wife), Ayumi (daughter) and Kenta (the son) sat on the other one.

"Why did you bring them here?" Erika asked, glaring at Kirala as her kids hid beside her.

"Because they need to learn the value of life and the weight of death. I don't blame the girl for acting like she does now, she had a very tragic past and I understand that. But that doesn't make this any bit okay, so I want them to help out here for the remainder of the week they have until the log pose sets." Kirala explained.

"And who exactly are they?" Erika asked looking at the two now. Kidd was staring back at her and Izumi was still holding onto his hand, unable to look them in the eyes.

"This is Eustass Captain Kidd and the little shy one is Izumi. They're the captain and tattooist of the Kidd pirates." Kirala explained as Kidd grinned proudly.

"How do I know they wont hurt us?" the woman asked, still very sceptical.

"If they do, I will never turn them back." Kirala chuckled.

"What is there to stop them from killing everyone after they turn back?" she asked as Kidd looked up at Kirala smirking and even Izumi looked up at Kidd.

"Unless they want a permanent curse, they will behave." Kirala frowned glaring at the two.

"And their crew?" she asked.

"They're around but they won't cause any trouble" she replied.

After a few minutes of thinking, Erika turned back to them.

"Alright. I believe in second chances. But please tell me why you killed my husband." she said almost desperately.

"He was going to kill an innocent baby lapahn." Izumi said quietly, surprising them that she actually talked.

"The guy pointed a gun at her and had every intention of shooting so I stopped him." Kidd said frowning.

"I just finished it off before he could hurt the lapahn or Kidd." Izumi said looking up at Erika with big watery eyes.

"You did it to protect others." Erika said tearing up.

"Izumi has a strong connection to the animal world, much stronger than to the humans. And Kidd protects his crew like a good captain should." Kirala explained sitting back.

"I understand your motives but why did you have to kill him? You could have just let him off with a warning." Erika cried as her children started to cry as well.

They managed to calm down and she agreed to take in the two so they could help her out.

"I will leave them with you and come by later to check on them." Kirala said walking to the door.

"Don't . . . don't leave." Izumi said a little panicked.

"You have your captain here. You'll be fine." she smiled at her warmly and patted her head.

"Alright. I will give them something to do." Erika said and the witch was out of the door.

Erika looked at the two and let out a sigh.

"How are you with cleaning?" she asked and both of them just shrugged.

"Help clean up the house. I'll give you the tools and show you how." she said leading them to a cupboard.

They had to clean up the whole house and albeit grumbling on Kidd's behalf, they did part of it by the end of that day.

"I think you've done enough for today, come and eat. I've made lasagne." Erika called to Kidd and Izumi.

They put the cleaning tools down and headed into the dining room where the two other children were already sat.

Kidd walked in but Izumi stopped behind the wall, looking in warily with her ears down.

"Iz. What's wrong?" Kidd asked, walking back to her.

"I don't feel comfortable here. I think I'll just go. I'll ask Killer for food." she said and grabbed her coat.

"Alright. Why are you so scared of these people?" he asked crossing his arms but still looked a little concerned.

"Humans are vile creatures. They may look friendly now but never forget that we took away an important person from their family. I was in this situation before and it didn't end well." she explained frowning.

"I'll come with you." Kidd said and put his coat on as well.

"Where are you going?" Erika asked making Izumi jump.

"We're gong back to our crew to eat. Iz doesn't feel too comfortable here." Kidd said as he opened the door.

"Okay." was all she said and they left without another word.

Using Izumi's sense of smell, they found most of the crew in a small bar near the edge of town and walked in.

Izumi immediately ran up to Killer and he picked her up.

"Hey. What's up?" he asked chuckling.

"I don't like them." she said burying her face in his chest.

"Killer, food." Kidd simply said sitting down with them.

. . .

The next day, the two finished all the cleaning and Kirala showed up to check on them.

"How are they doing?" she asked.

"They finished the cleaning pretty quickly so I'm happy. The girl usually runs off when we have to eat but the boy stays sometimes. It's always a masked man who brings her back. I'm just curious what's the reason." Erika said frowning.

"Don't worry about her too much." Kirala said chuckling.

After that, Kidd and Izumi were asked to look after the two children; Ayumi and Kenta. They were 11 and 8 years old and a bit wary but curious about the two pirates.

"What do you usually do for fun? If we have to look after you, we might as well enjoy it." Kidd said looking at the two as they were all in their play room. Izumi was sat by the wall, hugging her legs as the two kids sat by their toys with Kidd between them two and the little tigress.

For the next two days, they played with the kids and Kidd actually didn't get annoyed with them that much, although Izumi just watched from afar and it took Ayumi a long time to even get her to talk.

Slowly Izumi joined them as well and ended up teaching Ayumi how to draw, while Kidd taught Kenta how to build a little robot.

Erika was surprised by how much her children liked the two pirates and Ayumi stuck close to Izumi now.

"I have piano lessons at school. Do you wanna listen?" Ayumi asked cheerfully and pulled Izumi over to the piano.

She started playing and Izumi was really impressed with how good she was for her age.

"You're really good." Izumi smiled.

"Thanks. Kidd said you can sing. Can you sing me a song?" she asked smiling.

"If you can follow me on piano then yeah. A slow song?" Izumi smiled.

"Sure thing." Ayumi grinned.

She started playing a beautiful tune and smiling softly, Izumi started to sing.

"I saw your face in the morning sun  
Oh, I thought you were there  
I heard your voice as the wind passed me by  
Silently whispering my name

So many things that I wanted to say forever left untold  
I still remember the tears that you shed over someone else  
Our love could never die all I can do is cry  
Save a little prayer for the fallen one." she sang as the rest of Ayumi's family and Kidd walked in to listen as well. (The Fallen One by Hammerfall)

Erika teared up as Kidd was just smiling and Kenta grinned at the two girls' performance.

"That was beautiful Izumi. I didn't know you could sing so well." Erika cried as she walked up to them.

"Mummy why are you crying?" Ayumi asked and hugged her mother as Kenta ran up to her too.

"That was awesome." Kidd grinned at Izumi as they left the room and headed out for some food.

"I still don't get why you refuse to eat with them. That woman actually makes some tasty food." Kidd said as they walked down the street.

"How long do we have left?" she asked. Avoiding the subject.

"About 2 more days I think." Kidd replied.

"Hey look. It's those pirates. How pathetic, they got turned into children." a kid around 11 laughed with his friends as they spotted Kidd and Izumi.

"What did you say?" Kidd asked growling.

"You can't even fight like that, can you?" one asked grinning.

"You should just die. You and your freak of a cat thing." another laughed.

"Get outta here!" they chanted throwing rocks at them.

Kidd was about to fight back when he noticed that Izumi ran off the other direction.

"Izumi. Shit. You fuckers will pay for this." Kidd warned and ran off after her.

"Hey. Iz, wait up!" he yelled as he finally caught up to her near the ship.

"Izumi." he called after her as she abruptly stopped.

"It's pointless." she said with a shaky voice.

"It doesn't matter where I go, people are the same. They will never accept me and history just repeats itself. I'm sick and tired of feeling like a freak! No one ever treated my like their friend so why should I care about humans?! I don't belong with them! I'm better off dead like the rest of my kind!" she yelled and a circle of fire appeared around her as she lost control over it.

"What's going on?" Killer asked as he and some of the guys ran up to them, after they noticed the commotion.

"Izumi." some of them called alarmed as she was crying and the fire was getting more aggressive.

"We need to calm her down." Wire said frowning.

"Sid said that he just remembered that her gran told him she used to be really short tempered and snapped really easily." he explained as Sid turned to his gorilla form but couldn't get close to her because of the fire, none of them could.

"Damn it. I'll do it." Kidd said and jumped into the flames and through it as the guys protested.

He made it through the wall of fire and landed behind Izumi.

"Iz. Calm down a little, would you?" he asked calmly but she didn't even flinch so he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"People can be fucking cunts. We all know that but you're a Kidd Pirate now and our nakama. You belong with us and we accept you for everything you are." he said smiling as she dropped her arms and stopped shaking.

"You mean it?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"Of course I do. Let's just get this stupid thing over with so we can get our bodies back and sail the seas together. We'll go on great adventures and I will take you to see the world." he said while she turned around and hugged him.

The fire died down and and Killer and the others ran up to them now.

"You two alright?" Killer asked concerned.

"We're fine." Kidd grinned with Izumi still attached to him.

"What happened?" Heat asked frowning.

"Nothing. It's alright now." Izumi smiled wiping her face and let go of Kidd.

"Thank you." she smiled at him and they walked back to the ship for dinner.

. . .

Everyone was peacefully asleep on the ship, when they were suddenly woken up by screaming. Killer jumped up and ran to Izumi's room as fast as he could, spinning scythes at the ready.

As he got there, he realised there was no intruder but she was crying under her blankets.

"Zum. You alright?" he asked softly and sat down on her bed.

She didn't reply but cried a little harder as Sid tried to get her to come out but to no avail.

With a worried sigh, Killer pulled her covers off and picked her small shaking body up.

"Shh. It's alright. Did you have a nightmare?" he asked softly, trying to calm her down.

Some of the other guys appeared now as well, worried and curious about her scream but Killer just waved them away.

"What happened?" Killer asked softly as Kidd walked in and sat down beside him, rubbing his eyes.

"Nightmare. I dreamed of my past." she said shakily.

"It's alright now." he said rubbing her back.

"I wanna see gran. I miss her and the others." she cried.

"I'm sure we'll end up docking at Roby Lagoon. Just keep strong." Kidd said smiling up at her.

Izumi eventually calmed down and Killer put her back in bed.

"Try to sleep, alright?" Killer asked smiling under his mask.

"Do you want me to stay here?" Kidd suddenly asked looking at her.

She only nodded and shuffled over to make room for him. He chuckled and got under the covers with her.

"I've got her now. Night Killer." Kidd said pulling her closer as she relaxed in his embrace.

Killer smirked under his mask at the two and left them be, going back to his room.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The rest of the week that Kidd and Izumi spent with the two children went pretty well. They still had to look after them as their mother had work but it was pretty fun. They were quite mature for their age and had an interest in what the pirates had to offer.

It was now the last day before the log pose set and they got turned back. Not having anything to do, Kidd and Izumi just hanged out with the crew on the ship.

They found it funny how the two played together. They were either playing tag or had a snow ball fight and it was amusing to watch to say the least. At one point Jake was chasing the two around the ship because they stole some biscuits they weren't supposed to touch and he found out. They got an earful when he finally caught them but couldn't really lecture Kidd cause he was the captain so they got away with it.

Soon it was time for them to be turned back and they went to Kirala's house.

"Alright kiddos. I want you to put on these Yukatas and then I'll change you back." Kirala said handing them both a pair of white Yukata.

They walked into separate rooms and changed into said items. It was huge on them but they walked out with the bottom dragging on the floor behind them.

"Oh wow. You're so cute." Heat said amused.

"I hope you were talking about Iz." Kidd said glaring at him.

"I'm pretty sure he meant you." Izumi chuckled.

"You what?" he asked turning his glare at her.

"Enough. Let's get started." Kirala said amused and took them to the living room where they had to stand facing each other.

"Finally. I was getting tired of being this small." Kidd said unamused but still had a light smile on his face. He had to admit that he had fun with Izumi but he'd rather die that say that out loud.

All the lights in the room were turned off as Kirala stood beside the two and started chanting a spell. The room lit up with the green and blue lights as it did the last time. The guys were surprised by the aurora but looked at it amazed.

Kidd and Izumi could feel that burning sensation starting again as their bodies contorted and bones grew. They both doubled over in pain and couldn't hold back a cry of pain.

"Don't get close." Kirala warned them as Killer was about to act.

"This is normal. They will be back in a couple of minutes." she said and true to her words, Kidd and Izumi grew and turned back to adults.

The aurora faded away and Kirala turned the lights back on as Kidd and Izumi were laying in the middle of the room unconscious.

"Are they alright?" Killer asked as Heat checked their bodies for any abnormalities.

"They will be just fine. Let them sleep it off and you can leave." she said and walked away into the kitchen while Killer picked up Kidd and Heat got Izumi. They put the two in the spare room on the double bed and left them to rest.

. . .

In the morning, Kidd was the first to wake and looking down, he found Izumi in her human form with her head resting on his chest and he had an arm around her waist. Quickly pulling away, he looked himself over and with a relieved sigh, shook Izumi gently.

"Hey Iz. It's time to wake up." he softly called to her as one of her ears twitched.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Kidd?" she asked still half asleep.

"Morning, sunshine." he chuckled and helped her sit up. They were still in the white Yukatas and Izumi rubbed her eyes as she looked around.

"I see we were successfully turned back." she grinned and stood up.

"Yup. Lets get our stuff and get outta here." Kidd said as they left the room and were greeted by Kirala and Killer.

"Morning guys." she grinned at them.

"Hiya." Izumi grinned back.

"Where's our stuff. I wanna change." she asked as Kidd started talking with Killer.

"In that room." Kirala replied, gesturing to it.

"Get mine while you're at it." Kidd called to her as she walked off and just replied with a 'kay'.

They got dressed and ready, happy that they finally got their adult bodies back.

"Take care of yourselves kids." Kirala said as she stood in the doorway.

"We will." Izumi grinned and waved at her as they were walking away.

"Don't call us kids." Kidd called back and they headed to the docks.

"Captain! Zumi!" most people yelled, happy to see them.

"We're back!" Izumi yelled back happily as they boarded the ship.

"Get ready to set sail!" Kidd yelled grinning.

"Aye!" everyone yelled back.

. . .

Not even two hours after they left the island, they were hit by a pretty heavy storm and struggled to find their way out of it. Killer luckily navigated them through it expertly and avoided any calamity.

"Where'd Zum go? I haven't seen her since we hit that storm." Killer asked looking around as people started to catch their breaths and clean up.

"I'll find her. She's not too fond of thunder." Kidd said and walked below deck.

As usual, Kidd found her cowering under his desk, clutching her ears to her head and shaking.

"I thought I'd find you here." Kidd chuckled and pulled her up and she immediately hugged him, burying her face into his chest.

"You really that scared of thunder?" he asked amused, smiling down at her.

"They bring back a bad memory." she whimpered as he held her for a few minutes.

"I need to go back up. You can't cling to me forever." Kidd smiled patting her head.

"Don't go." she frowned with her ears sticking down and looked up at him with big yellow eyes.

"Tell you what?" he said stepping back, away from her.

"I will give you this and come back in a bit." he pulled his fluffy coat off and draped it over her shoulders.

"You said my scent calms you. That should be more than enough so just try to calm down, alright? Everyone has their weaknesses." he chuckled and left after giving a last pat to her head.

"You're not so aggressive and short tempered after all." she smiled to herself with a bit of pink dusting her cheeks.

Later on, the crew saw Izumi emerge from below deck with Kidd's coat on her shoulders. It was a bit big on her and dragged on the floor as she walked.

"Hey Zum. What's up?" Killer asked as she walked up to him.

"Have you seen Kidd?" she asked. It was obvious she just woke up and seeing her with Kidd's coat just amused the masked blond.

"I last saw him heading to the kitchen." he smirked under his mask and she was off.

"Thanks." she called back and disappeared under deck again.

Too lazy to use her sense of smell, she just walked through the galley and to the kitchen. She stopped in the doorway and just stared at the person inside.

Jake was there, preparing food and he had a small tree in a big plant pot in the corner of the room. He was talking to it and called it Timmy.

"Uhm, Jake? You are aware that you're talking to a plant, right?" she asked tentatively, making him jump.

"Zumi. How long have you been standing there?" Jake asked with wide eyes and a hand on his chest.

"A while." she shrugged.

"Why are you wearing captain's coat?" he asked noticing it.

"He gave it to me to calm me down. I'm looking for him now to give it back." she smiled.

"I never knew you had that kind of relationship with him." he smirked suggestively.

"What are you talking about? What a bout you though? What sort of relationship do you have with that plant? A new girlfriend? Oh wait. You called it Timmy, so it's a boyfriend I see." she asked smirking.

"Shut up kid. I found him on the last island and decided to take him with me. Captain isn't here. Look for him elsewhere." Jake retorted defensively and turned around.

"Sure. Have fun with your new boyfriend." she chuckled and walked out.

"Damn brat." she heard him grumbling. She walked off and catching Kidd's scent, followed it to his room.

"Hey Kidd. I got your coat. Thanks. It really helped me." she smiled as she walked into his room.

She stopped and looked at him surprised. Kidd only had a towel around his waist and he was drying his hair with another one.

"Okay. Just drop it somewhere here. Have you seen Jake's new tree yet?" he asked casually as he pulled the towel to his neck. She unconsciously looked him over and had to admit he looked hot, especially with his hair wet and draping over his eyes.

"You mean his new boyfriend? Yeah." she chuckled, snapping out of her initial shock of seeing him half naked.

"Haha. Yeah." he laughed and walked back into his bathroom to change.

"I'll be out in a minute." he called back.

"Kay. I'll be in your workshop." she said, leaving his coat on the back of his chair and walked out.

As Izumi walked along the corridor, she suddenly got a very mischievous look on her face as her lips pulled into a smirk.

"Oh no. What are you planning?" Wire asked looking at her as he walked by.

"Nothing." she said giving him a sweet and innocent smile.

"Why don't I believe you?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Laters." she giggled and ran off to her room.

No one saw Izumi for the rest of the day and they were a little nervous about what she was up to this time.

"Iz! Where the fuck is that woman?" Kidd asked as he walked around on deck as the sun was setting.

"Looking for the tiger?" someone asked annoyed and Kidd turned around to face them. As soon as he saw the guy, he burst out laughing.

"Come on captain. It's not funny. Stop that bitch, I'm the third victim now." the guy whined. He had pink hair and didn't look happy about it at all.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Kidd asked barely able to stop laughing.

"She put pink dye in the shampoo and this shit doesn't wanna come off. She also bleached Wire's head piece and replaced the lenses in Jin's sunglasses to orange ones." the guy complained.

"Not my problem, just look presentable." Kidd said crossing his arms and walked off.

"Izumi!" someone yelled from below deck and Izumi ran out and past them to the mast.

"You damn brat! What do you think you're doing?!" Jake yelled, running after her. She very easily ran up the mast and avoided Jake's attacks.

"What's wrong with you?" Kidd asked amused.

"That little bitch spiked my drink with vinegar." Jake said glaring at said tigress who was idly walking on the yard.

"Yo Iz!" Kidd called up as she looked down curiously.

"Yeah?" she asked and did a front flip, landing perfectly on deck and avoided Jake's attacks gracefully.

"Stop tormenting the crew." he said sternly.

"Tell her captain." some of the other guys cheered.

"But I'm bored." she frowned.

"I don't give a shit." he glared at her.

"I don't give a shit about you not giving a shit." she shot back.

"Behave." Kidd growled.

"Then entertain me." she said crossing her arms.

"Oh? I can entertain you if you want." Kidd said smirking suggestively.

"Really?" she asked grinning with innocent excitement.

"Never mind." Kidd said face palming and walked away.

"Hey wait. You said you'll entertain me. Kidd!" she whined running after him.

"Do you think she understands that kinda thing?" Jin asked looking at Jake.

"I have feeling she may be very thick regarding that." he chuckled.

. . .

The next day people found that Izumi messed with their hair and clothes at night but when they tried to complain about it, they found her sleeping on deck in her full tiger form on her back and couldn't do it in the end.

"Breakfast!" Jake yelled and everyone shuffled to the galley.

"You're still in one piece." Killer said chuckling.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she smirked back, knowing exactly why.

"Tone down the crazy." Jake said hitting her upside the head.

"What the fuck? You're one to talk, you psycho. You flirt with a damn tree and tried to feed me liquefied onion." she said growling at him.

"And I will do it again if you keep messing with my stuff." Jake shot back, ignoring the comment about the tree.

"I will out psycho you!" she yelled and stepped into a fighting stance.

"That's enough Iz. Just sit and eat. Leave the crew be." Kidd chuckled, pulling her down by the arm.

The two still glared at each other but they ate their breakfast.

'Zum-Zum.' Sid happily walked up to her in his gorilla form.

"Sid. You hang out with Wire too much." she said unamused.

"Give my best friend back or I'll bleach all of your clothes." she said threateningly at Wire.

"Iz." Kidd warned her.

Sid then rested his hand on the back of her head.

'You've been too quiet.' he said then banged her head on the table, surprising everyone.

Sid stepped back and everyone watched as Izumi slowly sat up with blood oozing from her nose and a murderous aura emitted from her.

"Are you trying to pick a fucking fight Sidney?" she growled, wiping the blood but more trickled down.

"Oh shit." someone whispered in the background.

"Is this gonna end in fight?" another one asked.

"If you're trying to test my patience, than you're out of luck." she said with a sigh and sat back down. Everyone was kinda surprised that she calmed down so fast but didn't question it.

"Zumi. Hold your head up and try to stop the bleeding." Heat said as he walked up to her and looked at her nose.

"Just because we were turned into children, doesn't mean that I will snap so easily. You know that shit needs a trigger." she said chuckling.

'I was worried. You seem a bit off lately.' he said turning back to his small form and jumped on the table.

"I was just bored. Don't assume I'm unstable just because I've been messing with people." she said as Heat poked at her nose.

'I also considered your period as a possibility.' he said amused.

"Eat a dick. Asshole." Izumi growled glaring at him.

"Well, your nose isn't broken so you're good." Heat said patting her head and sat back down.

"What did he say?" Killer asked amused.

"Nothing." she grumbled and looked away.

"Obviously." he chuckled.

. . .

For the next few days, Izumi just did her usual stuff and sparred with Killer, trying to beat him to no avail.

"Hey Sid." she called to the monkey as they were sitting on the deck.

'What?' he asked sitting up and looked at her curiously.

"Is it just me or Killer's a bit weird." she said in thought.

'Weird how?' he asked confused.

"I can't put my finger on it but I can tell that something is different when we spar. He doesn't move like everyone else does." she explained.

'I have no idea what you're talking about. You're just overthinking it.' Sid sighed.

"Am not. I will get to the bottom of this, you'll see." she pouted.

'Like you did with that guy huh? Zum-Zum you thought the guy was pregnant.' he said unamused.

"I was small and I told you that in confidence. I didn't know that it was a beer belly. He looked pregnant to me." she whisper yelled.

"Iz. You're an idiot." Kidd chuckled, making them both jump.

"Where did you come from?!" Izumi yelled with wide eyes as he was just crouching behind her.

"Well. When two people love each-" he started to say smirking when Izumi yelled and stood up suddenly.

"I don't want to hear it!" she yelled and stomped off somewhere.

"Hahaha. What's up with her?" he asked standing up as Sid just shrugged.

Kidd later found her in her room writing, where she promptly ignored him.

"Pay attention!" Kidd yelled, pulling her away from her desk by her hood.

"What the fuck do you want?!" she yelled back, glaring up at him.

"I came down here to tell you that we're gonna reach a new island and I get this? Like hell I will do it again. Fucking woman." Kidd frowned.

"I'm writing. I don't like being disturbed. Thanks for telling me though." she sighed and smiled at him at the end.

"Whatever. Just come up." he huffed and walked out.

"Moody asshole." she said to herself unamused.

"You know you have a great affect on him." Killer said walking in.

"What do you want?" she asked glaring at him and he held his hands up in surrender.

"I just came here to see what you were doing." he said amused.

"What do you mean I have a 'great affect' on him?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well for one, he seems a lot calmer around you and he doesn't attack you." Killer explained.

"I warned him at the start that if he did I would just fight back." she shrugged and turned her attention back to her book.

"Come on, we both know that's not enough to stop Kidd. He likes you." Killer said walking up and leaned on the edge on her desk.

"I like him too, he is my captain after all. I like all of you." she smiled.

"Of course." Killer chuckled, not really expecting her to get what he meant.

"Can I have a read of your books? It's been a while, I'm sure you have many great new stories." he asked smiling behind his mask.

"Sure." she smiled but looked at his mask intently.

"What? Is there something on my mask?" he asked chuckling.

"You have a secret and I will find out what it is." she said with a smirk pulling at her lips.

"Good luck with that." he said but he was a bit nervous on the inside.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Killer took Izumi's book and left it in his room. They were nearing a new island and he had to make sure everything was smooth sailing.

Izumi was already on deck and excited about the new adventure ahead of her as she excitedly talked with Kidd.

"No running off this time. The both of you." Killer said turning to the two.

"What makes you think I will listen?" Izumi asked unamused.

"Just look at what happened the last two times you ran off on your own." Killer shot back.

"Everything turned out fine." she shrugged.

"Just stay with me Iz." Kidd said amused.

"Whatever." she pouted but looked out at sea as they were getting closer to the island.

It was a spring island and as soon as they docked, Kidd grabbed Izumi by the arm and pulled her with them to stop her from causing any damage or trouble.

As they walked through town, everyone recognised them and cowered at their sight.

"People are weird." Izumi commented.

"You're one to talk." Jake said deadpanning.

"Says the guy in a relationship with a tree called Timmy." she shot back.

"What did you say?" Jake growled, ready for a fight.

"Cut it out." Killer said and the two relaxed and the other guys just chuckled at the exchange.

Sid jumped over to Izumi's shoulder from Wire and chatted to her while they looked for a little inn to sit in and gather some info on the island.

"No Sid, I didn't know that." Izumi said annoyed.

'But it's common sense.' he frowned.

"You should know that I don't give a crap about that kind of stuff." she frowned.

'Anyway Zum-Zum, you need to find a mate.' Sid suddenly said making her nearly trip over her feet.

"And why the fuck should I?" she asked annoyed as the others looked at her curiously.

'You are a healthy 20 year old. You need a mate.' he said matter of factly.

"I had this conversation every week with Corey for the past 3 or 4 years, I don't need to hear it from you as well so lay off." Izumi frowned annoyed.

"What is he bugging you with now?" Kidd asked chuckling.

"None of your business." she growled.

"Watch your tone." he shot back, instantly taking offence.

"Or what?" she growled.

"I will teach you how to speak to your captain." he glared at her.

"Kidd. I don't like to be bugged with the topic of a mate. It pisses me off and that's exactly what Sid did. Now can we move on?" she said unamused.

"Was that what he asked about?" he chuckled amused.

"Yes." she deadpanned.

"Are you actually interested in sex or anything about it at all?" Heat asked amused.

"I am. I'm just not in such a rush." she replied with a shrug.

"You're weird." Wire chuckled.

"What? For not being a complete whore and throwing myself at men? I'd rather fight a group of bears, thanks." she said unamused and they walked into a little inn with a bar in it.

"Of course you would." Killer chuckled and the crew sat down at a table while he went to talk to the bar tender.

They were talking for a while and Killer soon came back with the info they wanted.

"Log pose sets in a few days." he said sitting down.

"I'll be right back." Izumi said and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Kidd asked.

"To the toilet." she glared at him and walked off.

On her way back, as she walked past one of the tables, a woman in her 40s grabbed her hand and stood up cheerfully.

"Izu-chan? Is that really you?" she asked looking the feline over.

"Do I know you?" Izumi asked a little taken aback. The others noticed the situation as well and got ready to act if need be.

"Don't you recognise me Izu-chan?" the woman asked letting go of her now and a little hurt.

Izumi looked the woman over; she was pretty tall with long black hair that was in a high pony tail and had chocolate brown eyes, she was wearing a pair of blue jeans with a white t-shirt, a black cardigan and black sandals.

As realisation hit her, she went wide eyed and stepped back.

"Nana?" she asked surprised.

"Yeah. Silvia's older sister. I used to take care of you when that old hag had something to do." she said and pulled Izumi into a tight hug.

"You look so great. You really grew up into a beautiful woman. I'm so happy." she said happily.

"No." Izumi cried, pushing her off.

"What?" Nana asked confused.

"You left me. You were like a mother to me and you just left. Why didn't you tell me anything?" Izumi asked upset, with her ears sticking down. Seeing this, Kidd and Killer both stood up and walked up behind her.

"Do you realise how that made me feel. To be abandoned again? I was 6, you could have at least explained it to me instead of just disappearing." she said with hurt in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you, but I was hurting just as much as you were." Nana said frowning, she was upset as well and it showed.

"Where did you go? Why did you leave?" Izumi asked as Killer put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, making her look up and stepped closer to him.

"Who are these people? Are they pirates?" Nana asked alarmed, looking at the two.

"Yeah. So what?" Kidd asked glaring at Nana.

"She's part of our crew. If you upset her, you have to deal with us." Killer added.

Nana let out a sigh and leaned back on the table's edge.

"I will explain everything. I owe you that much. Sit down with me Izu-chan." she smiled and Izumi reluctantly sat down, with Kidd and Killer joining them.

"Let me start at the beginning." Nana said as they were looking at her, waiting for her explanation. To be honest, Kidd and Killer were quite curious about this woman Izumi used to look at as a mother.

"You remember my dad right?" she asked as Izumi nodded with a frown.

"He wanted me to marry someone I didn't even know and force me to carry on his traders business. I never wanted to do any of that so I had a plan to escape and leave the island. I wanted to take Silvia with me but she refused, heck I wanted to take you with me but that old hag wouldn't let me." she explained as Izumi just listened without a word.

"I finally managed to leave the island by sneaking onto a traders ship. I skipped from island to island like that until I found my place on this one. It took me years to settle but eventually I found a loving husband and we have a beautiful little daughter." she said smiling.

"I wanted to go back to see how you were but I feared my father's wrath." she said looking at her hands.

"I killed him a few days after you left. I knew he was the reason for your disappearance so I burnt him alive." Izumi said without any emotion, surprising Nana and both Kidd and Killer as well.

"You . . . killed him? What happened to Silvia? What happened to you?" Nana asked alarmed.

"Nothing happened to me. I was always an outcast and after that more so. Silva was relieved because that asshole wanted to force her into something too. She got together with Corey and they got married some years later. They taught me quite a few useful things and treated me like a human being, unlike the rest of the people that just saw me as a rabid beast." she explained nonchalantly. She was tired of hurting because of her past so she just told it as it was and didn't show hurt.

"I'm so glad. Corey is a great man." Nana grinned.

"So how did you end up in a pirate crew?" she asked curiously.

"I left the island to travel the world and explore. Kidd just saw me and asked me to join him so I said yes." she smiled and shrugged.

"Haha, I see. And are you happy being with them?" she asked smiling.

"Yeah. Happier than I ever was. I feel accepted and they're nice to me." Izumi smiled as Kidd and Killer smiled at her words as well.

"Good to hear. You must have been through so much. I saw your wanted poster the other day. 60,000,000 Beli is nothing to sneeze at." she chuckled making her smile.

"I completely forgot you had a wanted poster." Kidd said amused.

"Well done." Izumi chuckled.

"Let me invite you guys to my hot spring. The log pose on this island sets in 4 days. You can stay there for the duration of that time." Nana smiled.

"You have a hot spring?" Izumi asked surprised.

"Yup. We own it. I had the day off today but I usually run the front desk. Let me show you around and introduce you to my man and little girl." Nana grinned and stood up.

"Thank you." Izumi smiled.

"No problem. Oh, I never caught your names." she looked at the two pirates.

"Eustass Kidd." he said smirking.

"Killer." he said.

"Captain and first mate right?" she asked as they nodded.

"Let's go." she grinned and they took off towards the hot spring that was at the base of the mountain.

Nana asked about her adventures with the crew so far and Izumi happily talked about it with Kidd and Killer adding in some comments here and there as well. Nana was happy that Izumi got along with the crew so well and had the chance to go on adventures. She always had a soft spot in her heart and thought about the little tigress a lot.

"Here we are." Nana chuckled as the three looked up at the huge building in awe.

"It's big. Do you live here as well?" Izumi asked with a big grin.

"Yeah. The top floor is ours. It's closed today but we can keep it that way while you're here. Come on, lets go inside." Nana grinned and led the way.

She gave them a tour around the place and they were surprised how nice it was. They got given their own rooms and Nana introduced them to her husband and daughter.

"This is Aaron, my husband and our baby girl Nikki." Nana said grinning as she hugged Nikki and Aaron smiled at the lot as well.

"She's just turned 3." she added as the little girl was staring at Kidd who was glaring back at her.

"It's nice to meet you." Killer said as Izumi was glaring at Aaron.

"Uh guys? Stop it." Killer called to Izumi and Kidd, who both looked at him.

Izumi then stepped closer and pulled Aaron down to eye level by the front of his shirt.

"I sincerely hope you are taking good care of Nana and make her happy because if I find that you aren't, I will kill you the most painful way I can think of." Izumi growled in a low and intimidating voice, glaring into the guy's eyes. Something about the guy just gave her an odd feeling.

"I promise I'm making them happy. I would never hurt either of them." he whined wide eyed and shaking.

"Good." Izumi smirked and let him go as he quickly stepped away from her.

"Izu-chan you became so awesome. I'm so proud." Nana grinned and hugged her, with Nikki still in her arms.

"Thanks." Izumi smiled at her.

"Momma I wanna play with the kitty." Nikki grinned from her mother's arms.

"You can play with her later sweetheart. Daddy will play with you now. Mummy has to take care of these people." Nana said smiling at the little girl.

"Yey! Daddy!" she yelled happily as Aaron took her and walked off.

"Alright boys, make yourselves at home and use any facility you want." Nana grinned at them and turned to Izumi.

"As for you missy. You look tense. I think I know just what you need. My special relax treatment should help you." she smirked and pulled Izumi the opposite way. She looked back at Kidd and Killer but the masked man just waved at her chuckling, while Kidd was just grinning at her.

Nana pulled her into a room that was full of workout equipment.

"Uh Nana?" Izumi asked and Nana gave her a pair of boxing gloves, pulling her to the punching bag hanging from the ceiling.

"I can tell that you're tense and a little stressed. I can make a good guess and say that you hold everything in." she said grinning at the tigress as she hit bulls eye.

"I want you to tell me everything that made you angry or even just pissed you off recently. You will punch that bag every time you say one of these things. It will relieve the pent up emotions and help you." she explained.

"Fair enough." Izumi said with a shrug and turned to face the punching bag.

Taking a deep breath she gathered her thoughts and did as Nana told her. She complained about Kidd, Jake and some other stuff that got on her nerves, none the less the list was long but she was glad she could let all of it out now.

"That's all." Izumi said panting as she took the boxing gloves off.

"You did great. Now I want you to go take a shower and put on a Yutaka." Nana grinned and Izumi walked off to do just that.

She was then taken to a different room with these weird beds and oils.

"This is the massage room. I will treat you to a special massage that will relax your whole body. Just leave it all to me." Nana said smiling as she got everything ready.

"Come here and take that off. You need to be naked for thins. Lay on your stomach please." she asked as Izumi walked up to her a bit warily. With a shrug she did as told and laid down after removing the clothes.

Izumi didn't really like massages nor being touched that much in her human form but she had to admit that Nana knew what she was doing. She used some kind of oil and rubbed it into her skin and massages her tense muscles, completely relaxing her.

A few hours later she was done and they went into the woman's outdoor bath to relax in the hot water a little.

"This feels so good." Izumi hummed contently as she enjoyed the heat from the water.

"It does, doesn't it?" Nana asked smiling at her.

"Thank you." she smiled back.

"Don't mention it. I'm sorry I left you like that. I really missed you." Nana said and pulled Izumi into a warm hug.

"I missed you too." she replied with a soft smile.

"So, how are you doing relationship wise? Got a man?" she asked and winked at Izumi.

"I don't. Why do you people want me to get one so badly?" Izumi asked unamused.

"Haha. Because it's part of life. Have you ever had a boyfriend before at all?" Nana laughed.

"No. I haven't." she replied with her ears low.

"Aww. So you're a virgin? How old are you again?" she joked.

"I never said I was a virgin." Izumi said looking her straight in the eyes.

"Then you were . . ." Nana said alarmed but couldn't finish her sentence. Izumi just shook her head and laid back on the side of the bath to relax.

"Oh baby. I'm so sorry." Nana said and pulled her into a tight hug.

"It's in the past. I don't wanna think about it." she said in a hushed tone and Nana knew to drop the subject.

They relaxed for a little while longer, then got out to dry up and Nana took her into yet another room.

"The last stage of relaxation is yoga. I hope you still remember what we used to do." she said smiling.

"Of course. I do yoga every morning if I can." Izumi grinned and they got into position.

While Nana was fussing Izumi, the rest of the Kidd pirates took advantage of the hot spring's facilities as well and enjoyed the bath and food.

By the time the two woman joined them again, it was almost getting dark outside. They were in the common room, some of them playing ping-pong or talking and snacking by a big table that was in the room.

In the middle of Kidd and Killer's conversation, Nana walked into the room with a sleeping Izumi in her arms. Spotting Kidd, she walked up to them and sat down beside them by the low Japanese style table.

"She's asleep?" Killer asked amused as Nana laid Izumi on her lap with her head resting on her shoulder.

"She had a lot to relieve. I'm just happy I got my little girl back." she said smiling softly at the tigress and hugged her closer.

"You really look at her like a daughter?" Kidd asked, surprisingly seriously.

"Yeah. I'm glad to see that she grew into such a beautiful woman." she smiled.

"Hurt, betray or break her heart and I will kill you." Kidd warned, glaring at her. This surprised most people as he's not usually so protective over anybody but they guessed that Izumi was a special case.

"I would never." Nana said offended to hear his threat.

"We'll see. I'm keeping an eye on you." he said and turned back to talk with Killer.

"Did I fall asleep?" Izumi asked groggily as she woke up and rubbed her eyes.

"You did. How are you feeling sweetheart?" Nana asked smiling at her.

"I'm alright. Thank you for today." she smiled up at and snuggled closer to her.

"No problem love." Nana smiled back as the tigress kissed her on the cheek. She then looked around and moved to sit beside Kidd who smiled down at her. She turned into her full tiger form and just leaned up against him with her head resting on the table. Kidd chuckled and stroked her head, making her purr.

Nana sent a questioning look to Killer but he just waved it off.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It didn't take long for Izumi to get bored of just sitting there. So she turned back to her human form and stood up, stretching.

"Bored already? What was that, ten minutes you were sitting still?" Jake asked amused.

"Shut up, plant lover." she smirked and walked off before he could argue back and he didn't bother to call after her.

She walked over to one of the ping-pong tables where Heat and Jin were playing a match and watched them play for a while.

"Wanna have a go?" Killer asked as he leaned against the wall beside Izumi.

"Yup." Izumi grinned and pulled him to an empty table.

"Do you even know how to play it?" the blond asked amused.

"Never played before. But by watching them, I think I understand how it works." she grinned and picked up a ping-pong bat and a ball.

"Let the best one win." Killer said smirking under his mask.

"Care for a bet?" she asked with her own smirk.

"Go on. What'cha got?" he asked amused.

"If I win, I want you to let me tattoo something on your body." she said with a confident smirk.

"Haha, alright. But if I win, I want to see you drunk." he said chuckling.

"You're on." she grinned and everyone gathered around them to watch the showdown.

As they started, the match became more intense by the second and neither wanted to give in. Everyone watched intensely as the minutes ticked by and they were still at it. It was amusing to see how well she was doing despite only playing for the first time.

The game took a while to finish and Killer managed to win but only by a hair.

"Ah you got to be kidding me." Izumi said as she leaned on the table panting.

"You lose Zum." Killer chuckled.

"Better luck next time." Kidd chuckled, patting her head.

"Haha. It was fun though." she grinned.

"Now about our little bet." Killer smirked under his mask.

"Let the girl eat first." Nana said with a plate of food in her hand that she gave to Izumi who happily dug in.

The guys happily got the alcohol and threw a party while they were at it.

"How did this end up in a party?" Izumi asked amused.

"Haha. Just have fun and drink up Zum." Killer laughed and handed her a mug of whatever he was drinking and kept them coming.

"Zumi. Sing us a song!" Wire yelled grinning as he walked up to her and pulled her up.

"Why not?" she asked grinning.

"Wait. Nana, what about your daughter? How can she sleep in this noise?" she asked a little concerned.

"Her room is sound proof. It's all good." she replied with thumbs up.

"Haha. Alright." Izumi grinned and got up.

"'He who makes a beast out of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man'" Izumi yelled smirking. (Bat Country by Avenged Sevenfold)  
"Caught here in a fiery blaze, won't lose my will to stay.  
I tried to drive all through the night,  
The heat stroke ridden weather, the barren empty sights.  
No oasis here to see, the sand is singing deathless words to me.

Can't you help me as I'm startin' to burn (all alone).  
Too many doses and I'm starting to get an attraction.  
My confidence is leaving me on my own (all alone).  
No one can save me and you know I don't want the attention." she sang confidently, dancing a little as she sang. It was obvious she was already tipsy and they just enjoyed the show as everyone cheered.  
"As I adjust to my new sights the rarely tired lights will take me to new heights.  
My hand is on the trigger I'm ready to ignite.  
Tomorrow might not make it but everything's all right.  
Mental fiction, follow me; show me what it's like to be set free.

Can't you help me as I'm startin' to burn (all alone).  
Too many doses and I'm starting to get an attraction.  
My confidence is leaving me on my own (all alone).  
No one can save me and you know I don't want the attention.

So sorry you're not here I've been chained too long my vision's so unclear.  
Now take a trip with me but don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem.

Caught here in a fiery blaze, won't lose my will to stay.  
These eyes won't see the same, after I flip today.

Sometimes I don't know why we'd rather live than die,  
We look up towards the sky for answers to our lives.  
We may get some solutions but most just pass us by,  
Don't want your absolution cause I can't make it right.  
I'll make a beast out of myself, gets rid of all the pain of being a man.

Can't you help me as I'm startin' to burn (all alone).  
Too many doses and I'm starting to get an attraction.  
My confidence is leaving me on my own (all alone).  
No one can save me and you know I don't want the attention.

So sorry you're not here I've been sane too long my vision's so unclear.  
Now take a trip with me but don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem.  
I've known it from the start all these good ideas will tear your brain apart.  
Scared but you can follow me I'm too weird to live but much too rare to die." she finished and everyone erupted in cheers and cat calls.

"Another one!" someone yelled.

"Sing more Zumi!" someone else yelled and everyone added comments.

"Haha. No can do." she chuckled and winked at them as she walked back to Kidd, Killer, Nana, Heat and Jake.

"That was awesome." Heat and Jake beamed at her as she grinned back at them.

"Thank you." she smiled.

"I'm so proud of you. You have an amazing voice." Nana grinned and pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks." she smiled back.

"Drink up Zum." Killer chuckled handing her another drink.

"You really want to see me drunk?" Izumi asked with a sigh.

"That's why I made the bet." he replied chuckling.

"Don't regret it but I _will_ hold you responsible for my actions." she said amused.

"Fine by me." Killer said and she started drinking the contents of her mug.

It took quite a few drinks to get Izumi drunk, she had a high tolerance to the stuff after all. But the end result; no one expected. She was a blabbering mess, and it would be an understatement if you said she was a happy drunk. She was unusually bubbly and claimed to love everyone and everything she saw. She was also very honest in this state, not that she wasn't honest anyway but she just spoke her mind more. All that intimidation in her and aggression seemed to have just disappeared and was replaced with pure happiness.

"Oh dear Izu-chan. You alright?" Nana laughed as Izumi swayed and tried to walk up to someone.

"I'm fiiiine." she hummed happily, slurring her words.

"You can hardly walk." Killer laughed and caught her before she could fall, holding her up.

"Killllller." she grinned up at him.

"Come on, I think you should call it a day now." Nana chuckled and tried to help her walk.

"No." she suddenly said pushing away from her and fell backwards, right onto Kidd.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked annoyed as she sat properly in his lap and glared up at Nana.

"You alright Izu-chan?" Nana asked tentatively as she crouched down in front of her.

"No. You left without a word." she said with pain in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I thought we moved past that." she said frowning.

"Well I'm not. How am I supposed to get over years of abandonment. I thought you left me because you hated me. Suddenly finding you here . . . I can't just forgive and forget. It hurts." Izumi said but never shed tears. She seemed to have sobered up a little as well and everyone was listening to them now.

"I'm sorry. I had a good reason to leave, you have to understand." Nana said almost pleadingly.

"You could have said something to me. Your 'sorry' isn't enough. I couldn't get over it for years. My life just turned into a spiral of kill or be killed. I nearly turned away from humanity forever if it wasn't for your sister helping me. Do you even realise the damage you've done?" she asked looking her in the eyes. It surprised everyone how angry and hurt she became from the cheery drunk she was a moment ago, but Killer wasn't surprised about this at all. He had a hunch she wasn't over it and he did think that she forgave her too quickly.

"I'm sorry." Nana said in a hushed tone, trying to hold in her tears.

"Oh please. We don't need the water works." Izumi said, surprisingly coldly and sat up a bit more on Kidd as he held her steady. He was just listening to her quietly but had a slight smirk on his face. She wasn't taking any shit from the woman and spoke her mind, he admired that.

"I may have looked at you like a mother when I was small but the situation has changed. I'm not a kid anymore, I'm an adult and a pirate at that. Let me make myself clear; you are nothing more than the older sister of one of the closest people to me. I don't want to fix our 'relationship' and when the log pose sets I will leave and I will never return here. I appreciate your hospitality and what you're doing for the crew but I want nothing else to do with someone who abandoned me and never even bothered to send a letter to explain this shit." she said glaring at her.

"What? You don't mean that, do you?" Nana asked crying.

"I mean every word of it." Izumi replied and tried to stand up. Kidd helped her and just smirked down at Nana.

"Izu-chan." she tried to call after her as Kidd was helping her leave the room.

"She has nothing else to say to you, you herd her loud and clear. Try anything funny and I won't hold back." Kidd said glaring at her and took Izumi to her room.

"That was pretty impressive." he said as he helped her sit down on her futon.

"Was it?" she asked not so happily.

"Hey. You alright?" he asked lifting her face up so he could look her in the eyes.

"I don't know." she replied honestly. Her eyes were filled with pain and it gave Kidd a weird feeling. With a sigh, Kidd pulled her into a warm hug, surprising her.

"Kidd?" she asked confused.

"It's alright to hurt. You can rely on me." he said reaching up a hand and patted her head as she buried her head in his chest and clung to him tightly.

. . .

In the morning, the Kidd Pirates picked themselves up and cleaned up a little. Some who had hangovers just tried to recover and rest a little more.

Killer made sure that everyone was alright and checked on Nana as well. After Kidd took Izumi away, she cried her eyes out and he had to take her upstairs to her husband who wasn't too happy about the situation.

He was a bit worried about what will happen after Kidd and Izumi wake up and have to face Nana again but he guessed that Izumi is an adult and she can handle the situation, he just hoped she remembered what she said last night.

As the world came back to Izumi, she slowly opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, trying to remember where she was and what happened. She remembered her bet with Killer and that she lost, drinking a fuck ton, then Nana. She said something to her and it wasn't nice. She didn't remember what she said specifically but knowing how she can get when drunk, she had a good idea.

Not really wanting to get up yet, Izumi just snuggled into her warm pillow again.

She closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep when she realised that her pillow had a heart beat and she could feel soft breathing on top of her head. Snapping her eyes open, she was met with a toned pale chest and paying more attention to her surroundings, she realised that she was in a strong embrace. Glancing up, she found Kidd sound asleep and peaceful. She was pulled close to him, resting her head on his arm as he was laying on his side and his face was buried in her hair with his right arm rested on her back and shoulder while the other was around her waist.

She blushed at their close proximity and tried to get out of his arms but only ended up waking him.

Kidd opened his eyes still in a half asleep daze and looked down at what he was hugging. Not realising what he was really doing, he pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair, enjoying the warm embrace.

"Kidd." Izumi softly called.

"Hmm?" he hummed back.

"Could you please let me go?" she asked looking up at him with pink dusting her cheeks as she had her hands on his chest.

"Shit. Sorry." Kidd said letting go of her as he blushed lightly as well after he realised what was going on and woke up fully.

"We must have fallen asleep after that hug." Kidd said remembering it all.

"Hug?" she asked tilting her head curiously.

"After you said all that shit. I took you back here and you looked like you were hurting so I hugged you." he explained blushing, then stood up.

"Thank you." Izumi smiled, catching him off guard with how sincere her voice sounded.

"Don't worry about it." Kidd nodded back and left the room.

Izumi walked into a bathroom, cleaned up and dressed in her usual outfit with the black skinny jeans, burgundy hooded top that cut off a few inches below her breasts and had a zip in the middle, black loose fingerless gloves that reached up to her mid upper arm and full black high-top converse.

With a sigh, Izumi walked out of her room and looked for the rest of the crew. It didn't take her long to find most of them as they were in the dining room.

"Morning Zumi." most of them called happily as she returned the greeting, then walked up to Kidd's table.

"Morning guys." she smiled and sat down between Kidd and Heat as she usually did.

"Morning sunshine. How was last night?" Wire asked with a wink at her.

"It was good. Why?" she smiled, completely missing his point. Everyone pretty much knew that the two spent the night together and tried to tease Izumi but she's thick as a board so it was a lost cause.

"You and captain." he said suggestively. You had to give him credit for trying.

"Kidd helped me out. Is there something wrong with that?" she asked raising an eyebrow at him as everyone just watched amused.

"Nothing but I'm just wondering when will you two get together finally." he said chuckling.

"Oh Nana. Good morning." Izumi called and ran up to her, completely ignoring Wire's comment. Kidd and Killer watched them concerned after last night and were ready to act if things turned for the worst.

"Uh morning. How did you sleep?" Nana asked returning the tigress's smile.

"Good. Sorry if we made a big mess." she said following her to get food.

"No worries. You guys are guests. Have fun." Nana chuckled.

"Do you think Zumi remembers what she said to her last night?" Jake asked concerned.

"Who knows? She's impulsive and random." Kidd said turning back to his breakfast.

"Knowing Zum, she probably remembered, she's just making it easier on everyone. She doesn't like making a fuss unless it's a fight. I wouldn't worry too much if I were you." Killer explained and they nodded.

"Kidd. I wanna explore the island in a bit. Wanna join me?" Izumi asked as she sat down with a plate of food.

"Sure. Can't let you out of my sight, otherwise you'll just end up in some trouble again." he chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"Will not." she pouted.

"Keep telling yourself that." he laughed and she sent him a playful glare. The others just watched the two amused.

"You're acting like nothing happened last night." Killer said looking at her.

"I know what happened. I just don't want to make enemies, nor do I want to make friends. Going with a neutral attitude wont cause any problems." she explained and smiled at the masked blond.

"Haha. You're smarter than you look." he chuckled.

"What does that supposed to mean?" she asked a tad annoyed.

"Nothing, nothing." he said with his hands up in surrender.

"Good." she said and finished eating.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After breakfast, Izumi and Kidd left to explore the island while the other guys found something to do as well.

"Nice little island." Kidd commented as they were walking through town. Izumi just hummed in reply and followed beside him.

He noticed that she was a bit distracted as they walked through the streets and she didn't even notice that they left the town and walked into the forest until an animal made a loud noise near them.

"You alright?" Kidd asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"I'm fine." she said smiling and looked around.

"Okay, enough." Kidd said annoyed and grabbed her by the shoulders, making her stop and turn to him. She just stared up at him surprised.

"You've been acting really weird since we left the hot springs. What the hell's wrong with you?" he asked looking her straight in the eyes.

"There's nothing wrong. Let go, Kidd." she glared up at him frowning.

"No. Not until you tell me what the fuck's been bothering you." he said with a stern stare. She glared back but after realising he won't budge, she gave in.

"Fine. Just let go." she said quietly and they walked to a fallen tree trunk to sit down.

"I'm listening." he said looking down at her.

"I cant just pretend that nothing happened." she said with a sign and began to tell what Kidd asked for.

"Nana used to be a very important person to me, I looked at her like a mother. She was the one I ran to when I got bullied or I got injured. She used to cheer me up instantly and make me feel safe." she explained playing with her fingers.

"After she disappeared I didn't know what to do with myself, who to turn to or how to hold my temper. I snapped and I killed a lot of kids that were bugging me. I didn't know how to stop myself from showing too much." she said, her voice quiet and quivering.

"Eventually I learned how to pretend that I'm alright and I stopped showing pain or any emotion to the people that hated me. I couldn't have done it without gran and the others. But even after years, the scar she left was permanent and the moment I saw her again it just got ripped up." she sighed and pulled her knees to her chest.

"It hurts, I can't look at her the same way I did back then because I only remember the pain. I don't want to open up to her again because I will only end up hurting more. I don't know what I can do to make it go away." she said into her knees as she rested her face on it.

"You have me by your side. I will never let her hurt you more than she already has. You have the crew to rely on. Let us help you, we are your family now." Kidd said softly and draped an arm around her small body, pulling her closer to him.

"I will help you dull the ache. You just have to trust me." he smiled down at her and she looked up at him with a relieved smile.

"I trust you Kidd." she said and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Good. We only have to be here for a couple more days and don't even have to spend it in the hot spring if you don't want to." he said wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Thank you. I feel a lot better now." she hummed, resting her body against him and relaxed into their embrace.

"Don't get used to it. I only did this because you looked like you were about to cry." he said looking away with pink dusting his cheeks. He doesn't know how to deal with crying people but he couldn't just let her hurt either. Besides, as the captain, he has to look after his crew. Although he still couldn't explain what came over him or what that weird feeling was when he looked at Izumi upset, he just hoped it wasn't permanent and he would recover soon.

"I was not. I stopped crying when I turned 10." she said pouting and pulled away. Maybe Kidd wasn't all that bad, he cheered her up and was there when she needed it most. She can safely say she really liked the crew, they were her new family and she began to trust them now, Kidd just confused her sometimes. He's very aggressive and has a short fuse but on the other hand he can be caring and nice, although that doesn't happen often. He's a good captain and she began to accept him as the alpha, however hard that is for her.

"What'cha wanna do now then?" he asked.

"Wanna spar with me?" she asked grinning up at him.

"Why not? Don't expect me to go fucking easy on you though." he said smirking and they stood up.

"I don't." she smirked back.

They found a nice little clearing and got into fighting stances. They just circled each other for a while, waiting for the other to make the first move, just like two predators would. At last, Izumi launched into an attack and sent a kick at him that he easily blocked. They agreed to only use hand to hand, no Devil Fruit and no fire. They tested each other's capabilities for a while then really went at it. Kidd was surprised how much stamina she had and she was impressed with his strength. He was a great fighter, even without his Devil Fruit.

. . .

The two of them headed back to town and Izumi was walking beside Kidd in her full tiger form.

"That was fun. Should do it more often." he said patting her head.

"I couldn't agree more. But I have to spar with Killer as well. He has a secret and I will get to the bottom of it." she said determined, making Kidd chuckle at her.

"What? You know what he's hiding, don't you?" she asked looking at him.

"Yup. Have fun trying to get it out of him. He's very defensive about it." he said chuckling.

"I will manage, thanks. The bet is still on and when I finally beat him in sparring, he will show me his face." she said happily as they walked down the street and everyone scurried away at their sight.

"Good luck with that." Kidd chuckled.

"Killer's around." she grinned catching his scent.

They walked into a little bar and joined Killer at one of the tables.

"Why are you alone?" Izumi asked chuckling as she turned back to her human form.

"Just wanted some quiet." he smiled under his mask and ruffled her hair.

"Anything on your mind?" Kidd asked, raising an eyebrow at his oldest friend.

"Nana and her family are a bit weird. I've been watching them today and something was off." he said.

"What do you mean?" Izumi asked with a frown.

"I can't really explain it but the way they act towards each other is a bit rigid and forced." he said in thought.

"Whatever. We only have to be here for another two days." Izumi said annoyed and got up.

"You alright?" Killer asked concerned.

"Never better. Gonna go get a drink." she smiled and walked to the bar.

"What's wrong with her?" Killer asked looking at Kidd.

"The past is painful. The sooner we leave the better. I don't want her near them." he replied glaring into space.

"Is it bad?" he asked.

"Nothing she can't deal with. She's strong." Kidd smirked.

"I'm back." Izumi grinned, sitting down with a big glass of milk.

The three of them had dinner and stayed in the little bar talking for quite a while. They managed to cheer Izumi up and she was laughing with them, back to her usual cheery mood.

"Uh oh, I wanna sing." she giggled and got up to walk onto the little stage by the bar. It was night and quite a few people were in the bar by now.

She stood proudly and smirked as she started her song. (Lift me up by Five Finger Death Punch)

"It ain't no mystery  
I'm all I have left  
I'm pushing back and running you over

I've been thrown down run around  
Beaten 'til I hit the ground  
Telling you right now that it's over

There's no room for mistakes  
All the parts are in place  
Say what you will but say it to my face

Better back the fuck up  
Better shut the fuck up  
I'll do what I want and I'll never give up

I won't be broken  
I won't be tortured  
I won't be beaten down  
I have the answer  
I take the pressure  
I turn it all around

Lift me up above this  
The flames and the ashes  
Lift me up and help me to fly away  
Lift me up above this  
The broken the empty  
Lift me up and help me to fly away  
Lift me up" she sang smirking as everyone cheered while Kidd and Killer just smirked at the lyrics and how confidently she was singing it. She sang a couple of other songs and let loose a little but they figured she needed it.

"What do you think about her?" Killer suddenly asked, surprising Kidd.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Come on Kidd, I can tell you act differently towards her. You're not so violent and don't snap at her so much anymore. You like her don't you?" he asked, smirking beneath his mask.

"What the fuck are you on about? She's just different, I never met someone like her before. She stands up for herself and she isn't afraid to touch fire even though she knows it may burn her." he said looking away. He admitted these things but only because Killer knew him since they were children and it was no use lying to him either, he knew Kidd better than anyone.

"She sure is different. Everyone's been a lot more cheery since she joined and they fight less amongst themselves now." Killer said amused.

"Crazy eyed, certified  
Nothing left but shit inside  
Nobody said this would be easy to do  
Drying out, crying out  
Nothing left but pain and doubt  
I would be lying if I said it's for you

This isn't my fight  
This is my war  
(war, war, war)  
I never wanted anything more  
(This is my)  
This is my war  
(war, war, war)  
Everything I love I'm fighting for  
(this is my)  
This is my war  
This is my war  
This  
This is my war." she sang catching their attention. (This is my war by Five Finger Death Punch)

They were glad to see the fire in her eyes return as she sang and forgot all her problems.

Finishing the song, she walked back to them, ignoring the men who tried to flirt with her and sat down.

"Impressive." Killer chuckled.

"Thanks. I like singing. You can really let your emotions flow and just let it all out." she grinned.

"Feeling better now?" Kidd asked with a smirk.

"I feel so much better. But I want to write, so I'll be going back to the hot springs where I left my book." she said and stood up.

"Wait for us." Kidd chuckled as the three of them left and walked along the quiet streets, illuminated by the moon.

"It's quiet." Killer said.

"I can hear the animals. The sound is beautiful." Izumi hummed smiling, with her eyes closed.

"You really like animals more than humans, don't you?" Kidd asked.

"Yup. But don't worry, I'm starting to grow pretty fond of you guys." she grinned up at the two.

. . .

In the morning, Izumi woke beside Killer in her tiger form. He was already awake and reading her book with his mask on.

"I don't understand how you could read with that thing on. The hole's aren't even where your eyes are." she pouted, turning back to human.

"I manage." he chuckled.

"Whatever, I'm gonna take a bath." she smiled, stretching and walked off.

Izumi walked in and slipped into the hot water, enjoying it.

"Kitty." came a high pitched voice and Izumi looked at the far side of the bath, were Nana and Nikki were.  
"Morning." she smiled but didn't make a move to go near them.

"Mummy can I play with the kitty now?" Nikki asked as she looked at Izumi with sparkly eyes.

"Only if she agrees to it sweety." Nana said smiling down at her little girl. Nikki had shoulder length black hair with bright blue eyes and a chubby face, she was pretty small too but then again she was only 3 years old.

"I don't really have anything else to do for the time being." Izumi said smiling at the little girl who cheered. She was a bit curious about what Killer said the day before so she thought it wouldn't hurt.

They got out of the bath and after they dried up and dressed, Nana led her upstairs so she could play with Nikki for a little while.

"I will be back later, I have some stuff to take care of. Aaron is around here somewhere, if you need something, just ask him." Nana said smiling and left after she said goodbye to Nikki.

"Kitty!" she yelled happily and Izumi turned into her tiger cub form but even then she was a little bigger than Nikki was.

They played for a few hours, Izumi let her pet her and played hide and seek with her in her tiger form.

"So this is what all the noise was about?" Aaron said as he stepped into the room.

"Daddy!" Nikki yelled happily and stumbled up to her father.  
"Having fun sweety?" he asked, picking her up and she hugged him.

Izumi watched as he talked to her and smiled to herself. She didn't understand what Killer was talking about. He loved his daughter and seemed to take good care of her.

"It's time for you to sleep." he smiled as she yawned and he walked over to her bed.

Tucking her in, she fell asleep instantly and he turned to Izumi, who turned back to human by now.

"Thanks for taking care of her. I know she can be a handful." he smiled and they left the room.

"No worries. I was curious though, when did you meet Nana?" she asked smiling at him. She didn't like kids she admitted that, but Nikki was well raised and wasn't that much trouble so far.

"Not long after she moved here actually. I was working here already under my mother and after I got to know Nana a little better I offered her work here as well." he explained with a smile.

"I see. How did you end up together?" she asked.

"She's an amazing woman. It was hard not to fall for her. It took me a while but she returned my feelings in the end. We finally got married and now we have a beautiful daughter." he smiled.

"That's nice. I have something to do now. See ya." she said and walked off as her smile turned into a frown.

"Killer. A word please." she said and pulled him from the bar Nana was serving at.

She dragged him outside, around the back and faced him annoyed.

"What's wrong? What happened?" he asked.

"You were right. Something is wrong." she said furrowing her eyebrows.

"You noticed too?" he asked leaning against the side of the building.

"I asked Aaron about how he met and got together with Nana and despite answering them all, his tone was so empty and his eyes didn't hold the love that they should have. I know a man in love, I've talked to Corey enough times to know one when I see it. He talks about Silvia with such passion and softness in his voice. I saw none of that when I talked to this guy." she explained frowning.

"So he doesn't love her?" Killer asked.

"No. I'm just wondering why they're together if they don't love each other." she said in thought.

"Actually I was talking to Nana about the same thing this morning and she seemed to love the guy. I also found out that he had an accident just before Nikki was born." he said catching her attention.

"What accident?" she asked looking up at him.

"Something about a shooting. He was involved with some black market trade and a deal ended up badly." Killer explained.

"Okay, interesting." she said in thought.

"But you know what's even more interesting?" he asked smirking under his mask.

"Aaron was in the bath with us this morning and I didn't see any trace of the scar that Nana described to me." he said.

"What? How can that be? Did she remember wrong?" she asked confused.

"No. I asked her about it and she said she was more than positive where the bullet wound should be. She also said that she loved the yellow spots in her husbands brown eyes." he said, crossing his arms.

"What yellow spots? I didn't see anything like that in Aaron's eyes." she said furrowing her eyebrows alarmed.

"I knew it was important. Do you think that guy's an imposter?" he asked.

Before Izumi could say anything, they heard an explosion form the front and looked at each other alarmed. They could smell gunpowder in the air and quickly ran inside.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Do you think that guy's an imposter?" Killer asked.

Before Izumi could say anything, they heard an explosion form the front and looked at each other alarmed. They could smell gunpowder in the air and quickly ran inside.

They were met with Marines firing at the crew and complete chaos in the hot springs. They joined the fight and managed to kill all of them pretty easily.

"Where did they come from?" Izumi asked as she stood beside Kidd.

"It was a matter of time until they fucking showed up." he scoffed and walked off to check on everyone.

The place was pretty destroyed with the corpses of the Marines everywhere and blood soaked the walls and floor.

Remembering Nikki, Izumi quickly ran upstairs and into her room. She didn't find her in there and tried to look for her in the other rooms but to no avail.

Walking back down, she asked Killer if he knew where Nana and the others were but he said he didn't see them.

"Where did they go? I have a bad feeling about this." she said as she started pacing in front of him.

"What's the fucking matter now?" Kidd asked annoyed as he walked up.

"Where did Nana go?" she asked looking up at him almost desperately.

"I have no fucking clue. Why? I thought you didn't wanna be friendly with her." he asked crossing his arms unamused.

"I just have a very bad feeling, alright. Where the fuck are they?" she growled getting annoyed.

'Calm down! I got something for you.' Sid called as he walked into the room in his gorilla form and held a Marine officer by the back of his shirt.

"Why isn't he dead?" Izumi asked, rolling her eyes.

'Because he has some interesting info on dear Aaron and Nana.' Sid chuckled and hearing that, Izumi zoomed across the room and pinned the guy to the wall by his throat.

"What do you know? Tell me everything or I will rip your guts out." she growled in the guys face as he quivered in fear.

"Iz. Loosen your grip or you'll kill the fucker before he could talk." Kidd called walking up to her with Killer beside them. Everyone was surprised that Izumi was so angry but they didn't want to get in her way so they just stood still.

"Talk." she growled letting him go but pulled him back up by his shirt as he was about to fall.

"A-Aaron isn't who you think he is." he stuttered under Izumi's cold glare.

He explained everything as they listened quietly and Izumi got more and more angry by the minute. It turned out that this guys is the twin of the real Aaron who died 3 years ago in that incident. He was neck deep in the black market and got killed for something very valuable that he had. Joey, the twin who is now pretending to be Aaron is after the cursed gem that his brother was killed for. It's hidden somewhere on the island and Nana is helping him find it. The hot spring was just a cover for them to stay under the radar.

"Zum, calm down." Killer said as she was pacing again. They were a few meters away from the Marine guy as he was still stood against that wall and Kidd and Killer tried to calm her down.

'Zum-Zum, you need to calm down. You can't snap again.' Sid called from beside Kidd.

"I'm not gonna snap. Nana may have been a trigger once but not anymore." she growled.

"Then why the fuck are you so riled up?" Kidd asked glaring at her.

"I don't appreciate being lied to. What the fuck are they playing at? They have a fucking child. How could they just play her like that?" she growled and continued pacing.

"The little girl will probably be taken to a foster home after we capture the parents." the Marine guy said. He probably just tried to reassure Izumi as he thought she was worried about her.

She abruptly stopped pacing and pulling Kidd's knife from it's sheath, lobbed it at the guy as the blade embedded itself into his skull pretty deep, killing him instantly.

"Wow." Killer said surprised.

"I don't give a shit what happens to that little girl." she growled as he slid down the wall.

'Zum-Zum. What the hell is the matter with you?' Sid asked.

"Get ready Sid. We're going hunting. Find them no matter what or who you have to kill to get to them." she said and walked out.

"I'm fucking tired of holding back. I wanted to rip that fucker to pieces since I saw him." she growled.

"Wait. What are you planning?" Kidd asked walking after her.

"Just a little chase. I've missed the trill of the kill after a good hunt. We're going point blank Sid. Complete instinct drive. Have you forgotten that I'm a predator?" she asked as her whole aura changed. She was emitting that dark and blood thirsty aura she did when she snapped, except this was a little different. That was full of rage while this was more laid back and anticipating of what to come.

"Look for those fuckers and kill everyone that gets in your way!" Kidd yelled as everyone got a move on.

She just smirked up at him and turned into her full tiger form. Sid nodded at her in his gorilla form and both of them took off into the woods.

It took her a while to finally catch a whiff of Joey's scent and followed it deep into the woods until she got to what looked like a little hut.

She could hear talking from inside and smelled all three of their scents. Smirking, she crouched down and moved closer to the door.

With a low growl, she burst through the door and pounced on Joey. He yelled surprised and she instantly latched onto his arm as Nana screamed in fear and clutched Nikki's sleeping body close to her.

He screamed as she sunk her fangs into his arm and he pulled out a knife. Izumi jumped off before he could stab her and he attacked her with it. She growled at him and ripped at his body with her sharp claws and fangs while he managed to get a few cuts in on her as well. She managed to grab the knife and throw it to the side. With a last growl, she stood on her back legs and knocked him to the ground. Using her big paws to hold down his right arm and the other to push down on his chest, she grabbed a hold on his left arm with her fangs and with a powerful tug, ripped it off at his upper arm.

He screamed in pain with blood gushing out of the wound. She was about to go in for the kill, when Nana tackled her off him and held the knife in her hands, pointed at her.

Izumi chuckled as she turned back to her human form and glared up at her. Nana just looked at her shocked as she dropped the knife and stepped back.

"Why . . . why are you here?" she asked shaking.

"I don't like being lied to Nana." she said smirking and stood up.

While she was focused on her, Joey managed to leave the cabin.

"Look at that. He can still move." she said amused, looking at the blood trail he left.

"Sid is close by. He will take care of him." she grinned and slowly walked up to Nana as she backed away, until she was against the wall.

"Are you scared of me, Nana?" she asked smirking, stepping closer to her until they were inches apart and she was shaking in fear, with tears streaming down her eyes but she couldn't look away from Izumi's piercing yellow ones.

"I-I know what . . . you're ca-capable of." she stuttered.

"You have no idea what I can do to my prey. You can't even comprehend what I have done and can do to someone that upset me." Izumi whispered in a dark and low tone. She reached up and traced her nails along Nana's neck threateningly.

"Mummy?" Nikki asked sleepily as she sat up on the couch she was sleeping on before.

"Don't move." Izumi said and stepped away from her.

Walking up to Nikki, she couched down in front of her.

"Your daddy left and he won't be back." she said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" the little girl asked confused.

"I need you to be a strong girl now and find me a wet cloth from the other room, Nikki. Do you think you can do that for me?" Izumi smiled at her and helped her off the couch.

"I will find it." she grinned up at her and stumbled away.

Izumi turned back to Nana and glared at her.

"I would kill you where you stand but I don't want you to abandon another child. Just tell me one thing. Why did you let that guy pretend to be your husband?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I-I thought if I just believed that he was my Aaron, the pain would go away. And it did . . . for a while. He treated Nikki like she was his own daughter. He never wanted any harm for her." she explained crying as she slid down the wall to sit on the floor.

"But he didn't make you happy, did he?" Izumi asked walking up to her.

"He never loved you. He was only after some cursed gem Aaron hid." she said.

"I know. I just wanted a family. He loved Nikki so I let him do what he wanted. I thought if I just went along with it, it would be easy on us. He never even realised that I knew the truth." she cried.

"You dug your grave. Now you have to lie in it." Izumi frowned and turned away.

"You better look after Nikki and stay by her side." and with that she left.

Turning back to her full tiger form, she took off running and followed the blood trail Joey left. It led her out of the forest and disappeared at the base.

"Probably got caught by one of the guys." she said to herself and walked off to look for them.

She found Heat first and turned back to her human form.

"Holy shit, what happened to you?" he asked looking her over. She only had a few cuts along her shoulders and arms along with her sides but she guessed she was kinda covered in blood.

"The fucker had a knife." she simply said and walked towards where she could smell Kidd from, with Heat following her.

"You alright?" he asked concerned.

"I don't know. I will be in a bit." she said with a weak smile.

"You know it's not healthy to hold in your emotions." he said patting her head. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke up.

"I let her live. I didn't even touch her but only because she has a daughter and I didn't want her to abandon another child. It still hurts. The past is painful." she frowned.

"You know if you keep looking back, you won't notice what's in front of you." he said chuckling at her.

"Finally. What took you so fucking long?" Kidd said before she could reply.

"Soz." she said and with a deep breath, smiled up at him.

"The fuck you ginning at?" Kidd asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Nothing." she chuckled.

"Ah Sid. Did you take care of Joey? He crawled out of that hut. He left a trail of blood that stopped at the base of the forest." she said and looked at the monkey on Wire's shoulder expectedly.

'I didn't see him. You let him go?' he asked surprised.

"What do you mean you didn't fucking see him?" she asked wide eyed.

"Where the fuck is he?!" she yelled looking around.

"Tell me someone fucking got him." she growled but everyone just shook their heads.

"Fuck!" she yelled and ran off.

"Wait!" Kidd yelled and ran after her.

She turned to her full tiger form and ran ahead letting our a loud growl. As she got near the forest, a bunch of animals were waiting.

She stopped and as Kidd finally caught up to her, she was grumbling and pacing as the animals replied. With a last growl, they scattered and she turned back to Kidd.

"The fuck was that about?" he asked annoyed.

"I just sent them to look for him." she said growling and turned back.

"How the hell did he get away? The blood trail just stops here. What the fuck happened?" she asked annoyed.

"Pacing wont help. Why the fuck do you want him dead so badly anyway?" Kidd asked crossing his arms.

"Because he lied to me. He deceived Nana. He's a greedy asshole and now there's a child without a father." she said with a from.

"Hey. Look at me." Kidd said in a stern voice, making her stop and turn to him.

"He lied, so fucking what? Get over it. The rest is none of your fucking business. You said you want nothing to do with Nana. Now stop this and go see Heat with your injuries. We're leaving tomorrow morning." he said glaring down at her.

She glared back up at him for a few minutes as they had a staring contest. With a sigh she turned away and nodded.

Her ears twitched and she held an arm out for a raven to land on it. Listening to what it had to say she nodded and let it fly off.

"He's off the island. His comrades took him. I will drop it, but the next time I fucking see him, I won't hold back." she said and walked off.

"Fine by me." Kidd smirked and they walked back to the ship.

Izumi walked into her room to get some clean clothes then took a shower. She then walked to the infirmary so Heat could treat her wounds.

"You need to be more careful. How the hell did he manage to get you so bad?" Head grumbled, wrapping her arm. Maybe her wounds were deeper than she thought and some needed stitches but she wasn't too worried about them.

"I was too angry. I get careless when I'm angry. Why do you think Sid hates it when I snap? I don't defend my self at all in that state." she said surprising him.

"That's not good." he frowned.

"Nope. Well I'm not dead yet so it's all good." she grinned and stood up after he finished.

"Be more careful." he frowned.

"Got it dad." she chuckled and walked out.

"I'm tired." she complained to herself and walked into Kidd's workshop.

"Got treated?" he asked glancing up at her as she sat opposite him. She just hummed and rested her head on her arms on the table and fell asleep. Kidd chuckled at her and got back to what he was doing before.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Izumi was woken up by a gentle shake to her shoulders and she groggily opened her eyes.

'It's lunch time. Get up.' Sid said as she sat up stretching.

"Where's Kidd?" she asked looking around but he wasn't in the room.

'He already went in.' he said and jumped onto her back as she walked out.

"Food." Izumi hummed happily as they walked to the galley.

"Hi guys." she grinned at them as they greeted her as well.

"What the fuck took you so long?" Kidd asked grumbling.

"I just woke up." she frowned and sat down.

"I left a good ten minutes ago and told Sid to wake you." he said, glaring at said monkey, who just shrugged.

'I need to talk to you after food.' Sid said as he walked over to Wire.

"About?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

'You'll see.' he said and bit into an apple.

"What have I done now, your monkey majesty to get on your bad side?" Izumi asked dramatically, making some of them chuckle.

'Nothing. I'm just worried.' he said with a sigh.

"Worried about what?" she laughed.

'Eat. We'll talk about it later.' he said.

"Fine, fine." she smirked and dug into her food.

Sid dragged her to her room after they finished eating and closed the door behind them.

"What the hell's wrong with you? What do you want?" she asked a tad annoyed. He was acting weird and she was getting worried.

'I'm worried about you.' he said.

"Yeah. You've said that. Why? I'm fine." she said crossing her arms and sat on her bed.

'Izumi I know you. This whole nakama thing is new to you. No one ever treated you the way this crew does other than your gran and the others. How are you taking it?' he asked looking her in the eyes, surprising her.

"I-I'm fine." she said with wide yes.

'Look. I know it's hard for you to trust people and after what happened with Nana just now, I'm worried.' he said and sat down beside her in his gorilla form.

"I . . . I don't know if I can trust them. At the back of my mind I'm always scared that they will betray me, that they're just using me. I don't know if they will or not, I'm just scared that I will end up alone again. I actually really like them. I don't want to be abandoned . . . not by them." she explained quietly, watching her hand.

"You wont be abandoned and we would never betray you." came Killer's voice as he walked in, surprising the two and Sid jumped up, defensively.

"Killer?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I was worried so I came to check on you. I don't mean any harm." he said and Sid relaxed, turning back to his golden lion tamarin form and sat on Izumi's desk while Killer sat down beside her.

"Look, I know it's hard for you to trust people after what you went through. But trust me when I say this; we are not the kind to lie or abandon a nakama. We trust each other with our lives and that goes for you too. Trust us." he said reassuringly.

"I want to . . . but I've been hurt way too many times." she said frowning.

"Hey. We're not like those scumbags that hurt you." he said tilting her head up so she looked at him.

"Despite our reputation, we look after one another and respect each other. We want you here Zum. Everyone loves having you around. I promise we won't ever hurt you." he said.

"I will try to look in front of me and leave the past behind." she said with a faint smile, thinking back to what Heat had said to her.

"I don't expect anything too soon, but just know we're here for you and if you have anything troubling you, you know you can talk to any of us. We will help, even Kidd." he said chuckling.

"Thank you." she smiled and hugged him. It took him by surprise but after he recovered, he hugged her back.

"Never doubt us." he smiled under his mask.

"I'll try not to." she smiled up at him as she let go.

"Good." he grinned, patting her head.

'Trust them. You will never find a group of people like these guys.' Sid said happily and Izumi nodded at him.

"Let's go up on deck. The weather's nice today." Killer said and pulled her with him.

"I need some fresh air." she laughed and ran ahead of him with Sid following them as well.

"He-hey, what's up?" Heat asked amused as she nearly ran into him.

"It's sunny." she grinned and ran up the mast.

"She alright?" he asked Killer as he walked up to Heat and they watched Sid run off to Wire.

"She's good." Killer chuckled, watching as she laid down on the yard on her stomach and probably fell asleep.

"What was Sid worried about?" he asked.

"Trust issues. She's trying her best for us though. We just need to give her some time." he explained.

"That's understandable. She's pretty insecure and despite showing a strong front, sensitive as well." Heat said, surprising Killer a little.

"What? I pay attention. She's like a little sister I never had." Heat grumbled and walked off.

. . .

The Kidd Pirates set sail in the morning and the island was more than happy about it. They did leave a pretty big mess and killed half the town after all.

Right off the bat, they were attacked by a couple of Marine battle ships but they took care of them easily.

Izumi watched her crew's back and aided them in the fight. She ended up beside Killer as they took out a whole ship, just the two of them.

"You two make a good team." Wire called grinning at them as they landed back on deck.

"You think so?" Izumi asked smirking.

"Iz! Come here!" Kidd called as she ran over to him.

"Yes?" she asked, looking up at him.

"That was awesome. Stay close to me when we fight though." he said and walked off, leaving her a little confused about his last comment but she just shrugged it off.

Things went back to normal as everyone got back to their usual routine and Izumi walked off to her room.

She had a lot to get off her mind and what better way than to write them down? So she got on with that while Sid walked in as well and started playing a relaxing tune on his wooden flute.

. . .

Everyone walked into the galley for dinner and chatted amongst themselves happily.

"Oh yeah, Zumi. I forgot to give you something." Heat said with a grin and ran off to fetch whatever it was.

"Any of you know what it is?" she asked looking around.

"You'll like it." Jake said smirking.

"Uh okay." she just said a little warily.

Heat walked back in and stood in front of Izumi with something behind his back.

"You've been a bit upset after what happened with your step mother at the last island." Heat said making her frown.

"You noticed that?" she asked.

"Of course. I pay attention you know, and it's not hard to see." he chuckled making her smile to herself.

"Anyway. I thought you'd like to have this." he grinned and pulled out a little potted cactus that looked like a little green ball with spikes all over it.

"Kidd the second!" she grinned happily and tentatively stroked the spikes without hurting herself.

"You got to be fucking kidding me." Kidd growled annoyed.

"Thank you so much!" Izumi yelled happily and hugged Heat after she put the cactus on the table.

"Are you seriously calling it Kidd the second?" Killer asked laughing.

"Yup. It fits, doesn't it?" she asked grinning at him, then looked at Kidd's angry face.

"If it makes you feel any better, at least I don't talk or flirt with it." she chuckled, making them laugh.

"Oy. Watch it girlie." Jake frowned.

"Whatever." Kidd said with a sigh and walked out as he was finished eating.

"What's his problem?" she asked pouting.

"Maybe you should pay more attention to him." Killer suggested.

"Why?" she asked tilting her head, confused.

"Because he's your captain." he chuckled and ruffled her hair.

Everyone finished up and went their own way.

Izumi took the cactus back to her room with Sid following her amused.

"What? I like it." she grinned at the monkey as he sat on the bed.

'You're ridiculous.' he chuckled, then let out a sneeze.

"You alright?" Izumi asked, turning to look at him.

'Yeah. No worries.' he waved her off and laid down.

"Hey, Zumi." Jake smiled as he walked in.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked looking at him.

"I need a tattoo." he said making her grin at him.

"Of course. What are you thinking of having and where?" she asked happily.

"Well." he said and Izumi gestured for him to sit down as she leaned against her desk.

"Do you know those triskelion symbols?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so. The swirly ones with three points?" she asked, remembering seeing it before.

"Yeah. Could you do that for me?" Jake asked grinning.

"No problem. Where do you want it?" she smiled.

"We'll I'd like the first one to be somewhere on my chest. You can choose where." he said cheerfully.

"Alright. I assume black. Let's put it above your heart, shall we?" she asked and stood up strait to get everything ready.

"Awesome. I want a lot of them dotted around my body but not all at once." he said grinning.

"Sounds good. Let me just draw it up." Izumi smiled and pulled a piece of paper and pencil out.

He got up to let her sit down and looked over at Sid.

"Is he okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Tired I guess. He has a habit of exhausting himself sometimes." she replied.

"I see." he smiled as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Do you even use this bed anymore? I always see you in the guy's bunks, sneaking in beside Heat or Wire, sometimes you end up beside me as well." Jake said amused.

"Not really. I can sleep better when I'm beside someone. It just makes me feel safe." she said smiling back at him.

"That makes sense." he chuckled.

"What about the captain? Have you snuck into his room yet? I know you've snuck into Killer's room before." he asked with a smirk.

"I actually haven't. With Kidd it's different." she said.

"Different how?" he asked curiously.

"He makes me feel safe as it is but he's the alpha. Maybe I'm just not used to having a more dominant person around." she said with a sigh.

"You've always been the alpha right?" he asked as she hummed in reply.

"You know he trusts you. We all do in fact but he's usually a harder nut to crack. Just try to open up to him." Jake said with a warm smile.

"I'm done." Izumi grinned and showed him the design.

"I love it. When can you do it?" Jake asked grinning.

"Let me set up and I can start." she chuckled.

"Yo, Sid. Wake up, I need the bed." she called softly and shook him gently.

'What?' he asked groggily but opened his eyes.

"I need the bed. Got a tattooing job." she smiled.

'I'll go and see what Wire's doing then. See ya.' he said and wobbled out.

"He looked a little under the weather." Jake commented.

"Yeah. I'll see what's up later." Izumi said and got her equipment ready.

She soon got to work and finished the tattoo pretty quickly.

"Alright. Just keep it nice and moisturised and don't pick at the scabs." Izumi said and moved to clean up her tattoo gun.

"It's awesome. Thanks so much kid." Jake grinned, looking at it in the mirror Izumi had in her room.

"I'm glad." she smiled.

"Oh and everyone's planning a party in a bit." Jake said smiling.

"I'll be there." she smiled back and he left.

Finishing up her tidying. She walked up on deck to find everyone scattered about and just about ready to start partying.

"Zumi! Let's get drunk!" Wire yelled, happily running up to her.

"Haha. Let's get drunk." she laughed and cheered, letting him drag her off with him.

She was quickly handed a drink and everyone happily partied.

Izumi was sitting by the railing with Kidd, Killer, Heat, Jake, Wire and Sid, chatting and laughing amongst themselves.

"And then he told me that I couldn't go in because I looked like a goth." Heat said, making them laugh.

"To be fair you do." Izumi laughed.

"That's not the point. He should have let me in however I looked." he said but chuckled.

"Have you ever been kicked out of places Zum?" Killer asked and tugged at her ears.

"With these, I don't doubt it." he laughed.

"Hey. Don't pull them. They're sensitive." she growled.

"But I have and not once was it for my appearance." she laughed and they leaned closer to listen to her story.

"This one wasn't much after I left Ruby to go on adventures. I don't remember the name of the island now but it was pretty normal. I walked into a clothes shop to look for a new hoodie. At the time I didn't realise that it was one of those fashion, high end type shops. So I was walking around looking happily and a little soaked with blood because I just came from a fight with some Marine pricks. I was careful not to get blood on anything, most of it wasn't even mine." she explained amused.

"So Sid was on my shoulder, just chilling with some fruit he was eating. Now that's when that bitch walked up to me." she said and they looked at her with anticipation.

"She pulled on a smile and asked if she could help. I told her what I was looking for and she immediately pulled a face. Her expression and the way she held herself completely changed and then she looked at me with those judging eyes." she laughed.

"She then told me not so kindly to leave the shop because I'm scaring away the customers. I replied that I _was_ a customer and asked for the hoodie again. She then said that they don't serve homeless crazy people with a monkey for a pet." Izumi said trying not to laugh, she was already tipsy as it was.

"Oh no." Heat said chuckling.

"They called you a homo." Jake laughed, nearly falling over.

"To be fair after coming out of a fight, I didn't look my best." Izumi chuckled as well.

"What happened after?" Kidd asked amused.

"Right. I told her that I was some princess form some random kingdom I made up on the spot. Oh her behaviour took a 180 again. She tried to sweet talk me and did everything I asked." she laughed.

"People are so two faced." Kidd chuckled.

"Yeah. Then I got fed up of her and set fire to one of the shirts. Of course I did it so she thought it wasn't me, but in the end she found out who I was and I had to leave the island because everyone wanted to hurt me." Izumi laughed, finishing off her story.

"You got kicked off the island?" Heat asked trying to hold back his laughter while Jake was pissing himself and Wire couldn't hold back either.

"Yup, for that and a few other things as well. It wasn't the only occasion either. I got kicked off another island and wasn't allowed back on for stealing a skeleton from their museum." she laughed.

"You stole a skeleton?" Kidd laughed.

"Yeah, it was some important persons bones so they made a big fuss." she said grinning.

"Why?" Killer asked.

"I liked it. I wanted to learn about it and it's funny shapes. Then I lost half of it cause it fell apart. All I was really left with was the skull and the pelvis." she said and chuckled at the last word and they laughed at her antics.

"What did you do with them?" Jake asked amused.

"I kept the skull for a while." she replied.

"Why not the pelvis?" Wire asked.

"Cause I didn't like it. That word is weird, and kinda sounded rude to me." she said and they laughed.

"Sounds like penis and Sid kept teasing me with it so I got rid of the thing." she said making them laugh more.

"You're so precious." Heat laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked but ended up laughing as well.

"Though I never understood the difference between a male and female skeleton. Why the fuck is the female's pelvis cavity bigger?" she asked genuinely curious.

They all burst out laughing at her question and Jake grabbed a hold of her shoulders.

"Babies Izumi. It's cause you need to give birth." he said and she made a very disgusted and horrified face.

"But I don't want to give birth. Those things grow inside you, feeding off you and then pop out screaming. Then they suck the life out of you after. Seriously humans have ugly babies. Every other animal has a cute baby." she said and Jake started shaking her.

"What are you?!" he yelled laughing and she started to laugh as well.

"What kind of a retarded logic is that?" he asked letting her go and she fell on the floor crying from laughter.

"What are you?!" he asked again in an over-exaggerated way, making everyone laugh.

"What? It's true." she said wiping her tears away.

"Yeah. I guess so." Jake said calming down.

"You're one weird bitch, Iz. That's for sure." Kidd laughed patting her head.  
"Got a problem?" she asked glaring up at him.

"None." he smirked down, making her blush slightly but she smiled up at him ignoring it.

"More booze!" Jin yelled and handed them some more bottles of stuff as they cheered.

Everyone got drunk and somehow Izumi ended up falling asleep in Kidd's lap, Jake was actively flirting with his tree that he moved outside for sun, Heat and Wire were giggling in the corner like school girls, Killer somehow made sure everyone was alright and the rest just passed out in funny positions.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

In the morning, everyone pulled themselves together from the previous night's party and got on with what they were supposed to.

Killer ran around the ship, making sure that everyone was alright and no one got injured. He found Kidd in his room, still passed out from where he left the red head, Heat was in his infirmary treating the ones that had headaches, Jake was in the kitchen, the others were around the ship and he finally found Izumi in her room.

"You alright Zum?" he asked leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah. Last night was funny." she said grinning.

"Sure was." he chuckled and moved to sit on her bed where Sid was asleep.

"This little guy was partying like no tomorrow." he said amused.

"Yeah." Izumi smiled but Killer noticed the worry in her tone and the sad look in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. I'm just a bit worried about Sid. He's been sneezing and sleeping more lately." she said and sat down by her desk.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Killer said reassuringly.

"I hope so. He's like a brother to me." she said with a sad smile.

"I never realised you two were that close." Killer smiled.

"It didn't always used to be like that. At the start we were sworn enemies." she said chuckling.

"Really? You protect each other and are so close now." he said surprised.

"Yeah well, that only occurred because I saved his father from some gang back on Ruby." she said amused.

"His father is the animal's elder and leader of the wild life on Ruby. Unlike the others, Sid loves the humans and by observing them, learned quite a few interesting things, his skills with the gun included. He didn't like me because I hated the humans and I once killed one of the kids he made friends with, so we avoided each other." she explained.

"It was one of those weeks where everything seemed to just go wrong, and it did. A local gang thought it would be hilarious to ambush the money colony deep in Ruby's woods. They managed to wipe out half the clan before I got there. I killed them before they could get to the king and helped them bounce back. After that, Sid stopped hating me and came by our place often. Gran taught him sign language and I taught him how to use his devil fruit he accidentally ate. When the time came for me to leave he offered to come with me. I promised his father to look after him and show him the world." she smiled.

"So that's it? I see why you two look out for each other so much now." Killer smiled under his mask.

"It's a kill or be killed world Killer, I'm sure you know that. But it's alright to have fun and forget about the problems sometimes." she grinned as Sid stirred in his sleep and cracked his eyes open.

"Morning sunshine. Sleep well?" Izumi asked, walking up to him and he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

'Yeah. What time is it?' Sid asked.

"Around 11. How are you feeling?" she asked smiling.

'I'm good. You guys?' he asked and moved to sit on her lap.

"We're good too. Hungry actually. Let's go see what Jake has cooked up." she grinned and picking him up, left her room with Killer trailing beside them.

Everyone happily ate and discussed the events of the party.

"Hey Sid?" Izumi asked with a frown.

'Yeah?' he asked turning to her from laying on the table.

"Why aren't you eating?" she asked, drawing the attention of the others with her worried tone.

'I'm not that hungry. But don't worry about me. I'm fine.' he said smiling.

"I don't believe you." she frowned with a glare.

'You should mind your own business. I'm not so helpless that you need to worry about me all the time.' Sid said angrily and ran out.

"Fine." she growled and got back to eating.

"What was that about?" Kidd asked a tad concerned.

"Nothing." Izumi glared at him and got up to leave as well.

"Hey. Don't ignore me when I ask a question. Answer me." he frowned and walked after her.

Izumi's ears flattened against her head as she sped walked away. She didn't know where she was headed but she didn't want to be near anyone.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a hand that harshly grabbed her hair and pulled her back into a hard chest.

"I said don't ignore me." Kidd growled in a low tone as he pushed her against the wall with a bang of her head.

He glared into her eyes as he grabbed her neck and still had his other hand in her hair and he had to admit it was softer than he expected but he was pissed.

"When I ask a question, you answer it. Do you understand?" he growled and she glared back up at him.

"Kidd, I'm not in the mood for your bullshit right now." she said in a low growl.

"I don't give a fuck. Tell me what that scene was about." he glared, tightening his grip on her throat and promised pain if she didn't do what he said.

"There's something wrong with Sid and he wont tell me. I feel helpless and it pisses me off. Now get off me you metal brain." she growled, pushing against his chest.

With an annoyed scoff, Kidd leaned down and replaced his hand on her throat with his mouth as he bit down making her yelp in surprise. She growled, struggling against him but he just bit down harder. Eventually she gave up and let out a light whimper.

"I'm the alpha. Remember that well." Kidd growled looking her in the eyes as she looked up at him with big yellow orbs.

He brushed his thumb over the bite mark on her neck with a smirk, then walked off. Izumi slid down the wall, clutching her neck.

"What the hell? Why didn't I fight back?" she whispered to herself. Turning into her full tiger form, she walked up to the deck and laid down to take a nap in the sun.

After lunch she laid back down on deck and pretty much avoided conversation with everyone since Kidd bit her.

She suddenly awoke to a thud and a heavy feeling of dread. Lifting her head, she saw that Sid had collapsed and Wire was standing over him with a worried expression. Izumi shot up and let out a loud growl, standing over Sid protectively and glared up at Wire. He backed up with his hands up in surrender and she turned to Sid. She nudged him with her nose as she let out little whimpers and turned him on his back.

He didn't wake up and letting out a loud whine, Izumi grabbed him between her fangs gently and ran straight to the infirmary where she knew that Heat was arranging some files.

"Whoa. What happened?" Heat asked as Izumi ran in and placed Sid on a bed gently. She turned to him growling but her eyes were filled with worry.

"I'll check him over. What happened?" he asked again and this time moved to see if Sid was injured.

"He passed out on deck." Killer replied as he walked in with Kidd. Izumi's growl has caught the attention of everyone.

She turned to them and growled with her ears low and glared up at Kidd.

"Relax Zum. We mean no harm." Killer said in a soft voice. He knew how much she must have been panicking and he already heard from Kidd that he bit her.

She turned back to her human form and faced them with her eyebrows furrowed and a worried frown on her face.

"He's gonna be fine. Let Heat do his job." Killer said trying to reassure her and she turned back to Sid.

As she was a bout to walk closer, Kidd wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back.

"Let's leave. We'll just be in the way and your panicking wont help Heat concentrate." Kidd said and pulled her out of the infirmary.

They stood outside, leaned up against the wall. Izumi was just pacing with her ears low and she let out little grows and whimpers every now and then.

"Iz." Kidd called, trying to make her stop pacing.

"Izumi." he called again, this time with more force. She stopped and turned to glare at him.

"Your pacing wont do anything. Calm down already." he said annoyed.

"You don't understand. He's like a brother to me. I can't . . ." she said with a strained voice but couldn't finish her sentence.

"I know. Killer told me the story the two of you share. I know you're worried but you're just riling yourself up more by doing this." Kidd said, his voice softening as he kicked off the wall and walked up to her. To Killer's surprise and Izumi's as well, the red head pulled her into a warm embrace. She slowly calmed down and hugged him back, burying her face in his chest.

"Sid will be fine." he said patting her head.

Wire, Jake and Jin walked up to them looking worried and sent questioning looks to the two.

"Keeping her as calm as he can." Killer said walking up to the 3.

"What happened?" Jake asked.

"Is Sid alright?" Wire asked.

"Is Zumi okay?" Jin asked.

"Sid passed out. We don't know anything yet and Zum is just worried and wouldn't stop pacing." Killer explained as they nodded and waited together for Heat to walk out with news on Sid's condition. Izumi tried to pull away from Kidd and pace a few times but he didn't let her and kept repeating that 'it's gonna be fine'. The others were quite surprised that he was able to keep her still and that he actually did this for her.

Heat finally came out after a few hours and everyone turned to him. Izumi nearly jumped on him the minute she saw him but Kidd held her back with his arms wrapped around her stomach and shoulders.

"Stay still." Kidd growled down at her.

"How is he?" she asked desperately.

"He isn't too well I'm afraid." Heat replied with a dejected frown.

"What? But you can heal him right? You're a doctor!" she yelled upset.

"He caught-" he was gonna explain but Izumi cut in.

"I don't care what he has, just heal him. I promised to show him the world. He can't go now! You have to heal him!" Izumi yelled and tried to get out of Kidd's grip at Heat.

"I will do everything in my power Zumi. I already gave him something that will help his condition, all he needs now is a lot of rest." Heat explained as Kidd had to tighten his grip on her.

"Can I see him?" she asked.

"Yeah. But let him sleep." he replied and Kidd let her go as she turned into her full tiger form and ran in the room.

She walked up to the bed he was sleeping on and sniffed him tentatively. Letting out a quiet whimper she rested her head on the bed beside him and sat down, watching him.

"Zum." Killer called quietly as they walked in to check on Sid as well.

Her ears twitched and she stood up to face them. Letting out a low growl, she walked towards them threateningly.

"I think it's best if we leave them be." Jake said and pulled them out.

Kidd crossed his arms and stood his ground while Heat tidied up the infirmary. She ignored them two but growled at the rest until they left and then she walked back to Sid.

"Why are we the only ones she let in?" Heat asked watching her.

"I'm the alpha and you're the doctor." Kidd replied with a shrug and sat on the bed opposite Sid's.

. . .

A few days passed like this; Izumi never turned back to human and never left Sid's side as he didn't wake up. Heat checked him over a few times and she let him do that. Everyone else that tried to enter the room except for Kidd, she just growled at. Kidd was the one who had to bring her food because she refused to leave Sid's side. She hardly slept and didn't eat much either.

"How long will this last? She's making herself sick." Killer asked as he was talking to Kidd in his workshop.

"Sid's her brother. She's just worried, I'm sure she will turn back when he gets better." Kidd grumbled.

"I hope he will. I can't imagine what will happen to Zum if he dies." Killer said frowning under his mask.

"Heat said that he's doing better and should wake up soon. Have some faith in the monkey, he's not a pushover." Kidd grinned.

"That's true. Despite being a monkey, he's actually a good fighter and can hold his own in a fight." Killer said smiling.

Izumi was curled up in a ball beside Sid in her tiger cub form, fading in and out of consciousness.

Her ears twitched at the soft grunts and she lifted her head to see Sid waking up slowly. Izumi sat up and watched as he weakly opened his eyes.

'Zum-Zum?' Sid asked weakly.

"I'm here. How are you feeling?" she asked with a gentle voice.

'I hurt.' he groaned.

"I'll get Heat. Just bare with it." she said and jumped from the bed, shifting to her big tiger form and let out a loud growl by the door, alerting the guys.

She walked back to Sid and waited as Kidd, Killer and Heat ran in the room. Heat ran up to them as soon as he realised that Sid was a wake and checked him over while Kidd pulled Izumi away to give the doctor some room. Kidd ran his hand through the fur on her head, trying to calm her while Heat did his job, luckily she didn't notice Killer in the room just yet.

"Calm down Iz." Kidd chuckled scratching behind her ear.

"He's awake now. He's gonna be just fine." he grinned as she purred and leaned into his hand, resting her head on his chest.

Jake called everyone for lunch but they ignored it. Killer tapped Kidd on the shoulder and whispered to him that he's going to get food and make sure that their food is put to the side. Kidd nodded and Killer left as Izumi calmed down a bit now.

"How is he Heat?" Kidd asked.

"Thankfully he's over the worst of it. He just needs to rest a bit and regain his strength." he said smiling and Izumi perked up.

"Hear that Iz? He's gonna be just fine." Kidd grinned at her and she let out a happy growl. She jumped up on her hind legs and hugged Kidd in her tiger form, making him and Heat chuckle as Kidd patted her head.

She let go and walked up to Sid.

'I'll be fine Zum-Zum. Have you slept or even eaten anything though?' Sid asked smiling at the tigress.

She just shook her head and rested it on the bed.

'Go and eat. We don't need you getting sick as well.' he scolded and she let out a whine.

'Go, now. And turn back to your human form and freshen up.' he said.

Reluctantly but she left and followed Kidd to the galley after making Heat stay with Sid.

She quickly ate and ran out to shower and get a change of clothes, finishing up she ran straight back to Sid and brought him some food.

'Thanks.' Sid smiled as Izumi helped him sit up while Heat left to eat.

. . .

Izumi helped nurse Sid back to health for the next 2 days and carried him everywhere he needed to go.

"How are you feeling Zum?" Killer asked her as they were having breakfast.

"I'm good." she replied without much emotion.

"You haven't done anything but look after Sid this past week. Are you sure you're alright?" Jake asked. She did look a bit tense and they knew what she can be like if she doesn't fight for a while and get her frustration out.

"I'm fine." she growled annoyed.

"How about you go and spar with Killer after you eat? You need it." Kidd said poking her head and tugged lightly at her ear, earning a warning growl. She nodded and they finished eating.

'This should be interesting.' Sid said amused as he was sat in Wire's arms now that Izumi calmed down and let the crew near him. They were standing on deck as Izumi and Killer stood facing each other.

"Killer. Sid said to be extra careful, Zumi can get very aggressive after a while if she didn't get any adrenaline." Wire called and the masked blond nodded.

Killer had his spinning scythes at the ready as they started to circle each other. Izumi's movements were different than usual, more precise and careful, her eyes never leaving his body as she was watching every one of his movements. She was like a predator watching her pray and waiting for him to make the first move.

Killer activated his scythes as they started to spin and launched at her. She dodged his attacks and blocked his kicks. This went on for a few minutes as Izumi just seemingly played with Killer. She showed much more speed and strength than she usually did.

Dodging out from a downward swipe of his right scythe, Izumi grabbed his left wrist and pushing that up, she pushed his right scythe into the deck, getting it stuck and with a kick, broke the blade in half.

Her lips pulled into a smirk and she punched Killer in the stomach, making him stumble back and cough a little. The crew was awestruck and started whispering amongst themselves.

Killer composed himself and managed to kick her in the side, sending her tumbling but she jumped back up and went in to punch him. Before she could get to him, she fell forward and hit the ground with a thud.

"What?" Killer asked as he stopped his scythe and crouched down beside her.

"She okay?" Heat asked as they walked up as well.

"Looks like she passed out." Killer said panting.

"I'm not surprised. She hardly slept or ate for the past week." Heat sighed and Kidd picked Izumi up.

"I'll take her to her room." he grumbled and walked off.

"That was pretty awesome. She nearly beat you." Jake said grinning.

"She did." Killer chuckled and stood up.

"She broke my scythe." he frowned, pulling it out of the deck.

"You can probably get it fixed on the next island." Heat chuckled, patting him on the back as they all scattered and Wire took Sid to Izumi.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Izumi woke up the next day around the afternoon. She found Sid sleeping peacefully beside her and smiled to herself. She sat up and stretched. As Sid woke up as well, she smiled down at him.

'Hi.' he grinned.

"Hiya. I'm gonna go take a shower real quick. Will you be alright?" she asked as he nodded.

Izumi grabbed some clean clothes and walked to the bathroom.

After her shower she bumped into Killer on her way back to her room.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm good. You?" she asked smiling up at him.

"Good." he smiled back under his mask.

"I believe I have won." she smirked.

"You passed out." he chuckled.

"But I broke your scythe . . . uh, sorry about that. But I won. I finally managed to push you back and I was probably gonna do more damage." she said grinning.

"Fine. I'll give you that one. As promised I will show you my face so meet me in my room after dinner." he said ruffling her hair and walked off. For some reason he wasn't so anxious to show her, he trusted her and knew she wasn't gonna judge him for it.

As they were all called for dinner, Izumi walked in with Sid in her arms as he had to take it easy for the next week or so to heal properly and regain his strength so he wasn't allowed to walk.

"Zumi you were awesome." Jin beamed at her as she walked past.

"Thanks." she grinned back then sat down.

"You actually broke Killer's scythe. Rare feat." Heat said grinning at her.

"I got carried away. Besides those things are scary, I was instinct driven and got rid of the danger." she said pouting.

"I'll get it fixed, don't worry." Killer chuckled.

"Don't break it again. It's expensive to get it fixed." Kidd growled.

"But it was an impressive fight." he added with a smirk.

"Thanks." she grinned up at him. Looking him in the eyes, she remembered that he bit her and quickly looked away, blushing lightly.

"Oh really?" Wire chuckled as Sid told him something.

"Captain." he called as Kidd looked up at him.

"Sid said that biting Zumi on the neck in her human form does nothing, rather it's just a sexual gesture. If you want her to see you as the dominant one over her, bite her in her tiger form." Wire said grinning while Izumi blushed more and some of them just looked at her amused.

"Thanks for the food." she said quietly and stood up to leave.

"Thanks for telling me that." Kidd smirked.

"Go get her captain!" Heat and Wire cheered while Jake and Killer just chuckled.

"She beat me in our sparring session so I'm gonna show her what she wanted." Killer said surprising Kidd.

"Are you kidding?" he asked as Killer just looked at him.

"You're not kidding. Hahaha, just don't bitch to me later." Kidd laughed as Killer stood up to leave.

. . .

Killer walked into his room to find Izumi in her tiger cub form asleep on his bed, making him chuckle to himself. Closing the door, he walked up to her and shook her awake gently.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. Letting out a big yawn, she turned back to her human form and sat up on the bed cross legged.

"I believe you have something to show me." she grinned.

"I do. Just don't tell anyone." he said with a sigh and sat down beside her and she turned to face him.

"I promise to keep it a secret." she smiled and held out her pinky. Chuckling, Killer linked his pinky with hers and shook it.

He reached up and unclasped his mask, with a hand on the front, he lifted it away and placed it down on the bed beside him then faced Izumi.

At first she was surprised to see his face, there was nothing wrong with it. He only had a diagonal scar going from the end of his right eyebrow to the left edge of his mouth, another going from the bridge of his nose to his right cheek. He was quite the good looking guy but as she looked Killer in the eyes she realised the reason why he always wore the mask. His eyes were a pale blue colour with the pupil the same and not even visible. She knew exactly what that meant; he was blind.

Izumi studied his face in awe as she reached up her left hand and traced his scars with her finger tips.

"Beautiful." she hummed happily, smiling at him.

"You don't think that my eyes are disgusting?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"Why would I? I like them and the scars as well. But how do you function if you can't see?" she asked sitting back.

"I was like this from a very young age and I guess I developed some sort of Haki that I can use. And before you ask, I can read because I can pick up the the difference between the paper and the ink on it." he explained.

"That's amazing. And you're such an amazing fighter as well." she said in awe.

"Thanks." he smiled making her grin.

"I never seen you smile. It looks good." she grinned.

"Thanks." he chuckled and patted her on the head.

"Was it really a sexual thing that Kidd did?" he suddenly asked making her frown and blush.

"Uh, it only works for dominating when I'm a tiger, not in my human form." she pouted looking away.

"Aww. You're too cute." he chucked, making her glare up at him.

"Shut up. It made me feel weird." she frowned, glaring at him.

"Weird how?" he asked, curious now.

"I dunno. It felt good I guess. And . . ." she said embarrassed, looking down at her hands.

"And?" Killer smirked.

"Uh . . . wow look at the time. I need to go check on Sid. Bye." she suddenly said and ran out of the room, leaving Killer surprised.

He chuckled and put his mask back on, leaving as well.

. . .

The next day they were nearing a new island and Izumi was excited as usual but she was talking to Sid, who sat on her shoulder.

"You're not allowed to run off, get into a fight or any trouble. You got that?" she asked in a serious tone.

' _You_ need to heed those rules not me.' he said amused.

"Iz, you're the one that does all that." Kidd said chuckling and patted her head.

"But I do it with style." she said smirking.

"Can't argue with that." Killer said amused.

The weather was quickly warming up again and Killer informed them that they were close to a tropical island.

Handing Sid over to Wire, Izumi ran in and changed into a pair of dark grey shorts that frayed at the ends, her black bikini and a loose burgundy tank top with her full black high top converse.

"Are we there yet?" she asked as she walked back to them.

"Nearly there, Zum." Killer chuckled as Kidd looked her over, unnoticed by anyone.

"I can't wait. It's gonna be fun." she grinned leaning on the railing.

"No running off. You're staying with me." Kidd called.

"Fine." she chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"I'm going with you this time. I can't trust you not getting into any trouble." Killer said and Kidd huffed at his comment but agreed to it anyway.

They got to the island and had to drop anchor a bit ways from it as there was no dock and took a few boats to get onto the island. As soon as they landed, Izumi ran into the forest, with Kidd and Killer close behind her.

She turned into her full tiger from and ran around like that, taking in all the smells and responding to the calls of animals.

"You're so excitable." Killer chuckled as they walked through the jungle.

Izumi was walking in front of them and they watched her tiger body move. She was a beautiful creature with the white fur and orange stripes.

Smelling something, she ran forward and they had to be quick not to lose her.

"Iz. Damn it, wait up." Kidd called annoyed and they came up to a little waterfall with a deep part of the river below it.

Izumi was already in the water, she looked like she really liked it and was splashing around in her tiger form playing with it. Tigers really like water.

"Stop running off, damn woman." Kidd growled as they finally caught up to her.

"I'm going for a swim." she called to them and swam deeper in.

Kidd and Killer sat down on a log and watched her swimming around, until she disappeared into the waterfall.

"The island seems uninhabited. We should stock up on fruit and hunt some animals." Killer said.

"Yeah. You can get your weapon fixed on the next island." Kidd nodded.

"Captain." Heat called as he and some of the others walked up behind them.

"Where'd Zumi run off to now?" Jake asked, looking around.

"Went swimming." Killer replied.

"Go stock up on food." Kidd said, waving them away.

"Alright. I'll go and look around the island, see what we find." Killer said.

"I'll stay here and make sure Iz wont get into trouble." Kidd said and the others walked off, leaving him alone.

Kidd sat on his own for quite a while and he soon got annoyed by boredom. In the time he had though, he thought about Izumi and how she made him feel sometimes. He hated to admit that she had an effect on him but couldn't deny the fact he liked it when she gave him attention. She was so different, wild and brave, he liked that a lot about her.

His thoughts were interrupted when the subject of his thoughts walked up to him and sniffed his face amused.

"What are you doing?" he asked standing up quickly.

"I called your name like five times. What were you thinking about that you were so distracted?" she asked turning back to her human form.

"Nothing." he growled looking away and blushed lightly for being caught like that.

She sat down on the log he was sitting on and stretched her arms.

"You're done swimming?" Kidd asked and sat down beside her.

"I'm just taking a break." she smiled up at him.

"Do you miss swimming?" she suddenly asked.

"Not really. I ate my fruit before I could learn." Kidd replied after a minute.

"That so. How did it happen?" she asked.

"Back on my home island a pirate crew had it and I stole it. Out of curiosity I ate it." he said smirking as he remembered it.

"Did you ever regret it?" Izumi chuckled.

"No, not once. I love the power it gave me." he grinned activating it as purple sparks danced around his hand.

"I like it too. It's cool." Izumi grinned.

"Thanks." Kidd smiled at her.

"I'm gonna go swim now." she stood up and stated to take her clothes off.

"What are you doing?" Kidd asked with his cheeks red.

"I have a bikini under this. I don't wanna get my clothes wet." she chuckled and finished pulling them off.

"Ah okay." Kidd said turning away.

He glanced back over when she walked up to the water, he could clearly see her orange tiger stripes decorating her body and he found them beautiful. The bikini looked hot on her as well.

Izumi walked in and jumped the whole way into the lake. She swam around for a while, enjoying the cool water in the warm weather while Kidd kept an eye on her.

She finally swam to shore again and walked up to Kidd.

"Done?" he asked smirking at her.

"Yeah. That was fun." she grinned and shook her head to try and get the water out of it.

"Watch it." Kidd growled as she got water on him.

"Soz." she chuckled and summoning her fire, wrapped it around her whole body to dry off.

"Useful trick." Kidd commented.

"Yup. I want to go explore the caves behind the waterfall. Wanna come?" she asked looking at it.

"I can't leave you alone. But how do you plan to get me there?" he asked standing up as she got dressed again.

"I'll turn into my full tiger form and swim there with you on my back." she grinned.

"I will loose my power if I get in the water." he frowned.  
"Don't worry, as long as you hold on to me, I will keep you out of it as much as I can. Don't you trust me?" Izumi asked looking him in the eyes.

"I trust you." he replied with a sigh and she turned into her biggest tiger form.

She was even taller than Kidd in this form and crouched down so he could get on her back.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready." he nodded and she walked in and Kidd gripped her fur tighter as she started swimming.

"Relax. I got you." she chuckled and got closer to the waterfall.

Kidd hissed as the water started to hit his body from the waterfall and he leaned completely on Izumi as she swam through it.

"You good?" she asked after they got though it.

"Yeah." he replied a little weakly.

Swimming for about ten minutes more with a ball of white fire illuminating the cave, they finally got to a point where Izumi could climb onto some rocks. It was the entrance of the cave that they could walk on.

Crouching down, she let Kidd get off then turned back to human. She dried off both of them and held a ball of fire out so they could see.

"See? That wasn't so bad now was it?" she asked with a cheeky smirk.

"Shut up. I'd like to avoid water as much as I can." he said with a frown.

"Let's go." Izumi grinned and they headed deeper.

They could feel the air cool down the deeper they got, contrasting from the thick and warm of the tropical weather outside.

"How long do you think we'll need to walk?" Kidd asked looking at the walls of the cave.

"Not much longer. I can hear the birds again and smell the salty air." she replied with a smile.

"I wonder where this leads." he hummed smiling.

"Me too." Izumi grinned.

Walking for a little while longer, they seemed to be heading higher.

"We're here." Izumi grinned and ran ahead.

"Wait!" Kidd yelled after her and began running as well.

He finally made it out and into a large space with the ceiling wide open, letting the sun light up the place.

"This is beautiful." Izumi said in awe. It was covered in grass and different kinds of flowers, with a little river running through it.

"I never imagined there to be a place like this inside a mountain." Kidd said looking around as he stepped beside Izumi.

"I love it." Izumi grinned and turning into a tiger, ran towards the little stream of river through the grass.

Kidd chuckled and ran after her, it was great to see her so happy. It was best when she was exploring and smiling. He admitted that her sadistic nature and the fact she was able to kill with cold blood was useful, but this side of her fit her better. It's a bit sad that she had to go through all that pain to become what she was today.

As soon as he caught up to her, he jumped on her back, making her fall on her stomach. She rolled around an onto him as they play fought for a while, rolling around in the grass.

"This is fun." Izumi laughed as she was the one on top now and licked Kidd's face, still in her tiger form.

"You don't see a place like this everyday." he said with a grin.

"Oh come on. Admit that you're having fun." she teased.

"Make me." he smirked and flipped them over so he was on top.

"Game on." she said and wiggling out from under him, jumped up and playfully growled at him.

Kidd stood up as well and launched at her. She stood up on her hind legs and pushed at his chest with her huge paws. Pulling them up, Kidd pushed her back and she fell on her back, taking him with her. Using the opportunity, he quickly leaned down and bit her neck, making her let out a little whine. After a few second she completely became still and her breathing levelled out.

He raised his head and looked her in the eyes.

"I'm the alpha. You better get used to it." he said smirking and she turned back to human, looking up at him.

"I understand." she said and a small smile tugged at her lips.

"Finally." Kidd grinned and let his body drop onto hers. She didn't mind that much and just ran her fingers through his fiery hair as he rested his head in the crook of her neck.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Izumi laid in the grass for a while with her eyes closed as Kidd was still on top of her. She took in his scent as he reached a hand up and rubbed behind her ear, making her purr happily.

He chuckled and lightly brushed his lips against her neck, then left little kisses, startling her and making her let out a quiet little moan.

"We should get up." she said softly, snapping him out of his daze and tried not to react to him more that she already has.

"Yeah." he said leaning up on his elbows after he realised what he did. Looking down at her, he noticed the pink dusting her cheek but she never broke eye contact with him.

With a smirk and chuckle, he got off her and stood up, pulling her to her feet as well.

"We should go look for the others." Kidd said as Izumi was looking around again.

"I found another cave." she cheered and walked into it with a ball of fire.

"Alright." he shrugged and followed her. But he noticed the clouds on the sky before he walked into the cave and didn't quite like the look of them.

This time they were wondering the cave for a lot longer than the last time.

"When will this shit end?" Kidd grumbled annoyed. He wasn't claustrophobic but being in a tight place for so long was starting to get on his nerves.

"I don't know. I can't hear any animals and the air is quite cold here." Izumi said no longer as happy.

Izumi was walking in front of Kidd so he noticed when she wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her upper arm.

"You cold?" he asked.

"Just a little. Don't worry about it." she said and kept walking.

It wasn't until later that she suddenly stopped and he bumped into her.

"What's wrong now?" Kidd growled annoyed but he noticed that she was shivering and the fur on her tail stood on end.

"Iz?" he asked again, a little more concerned and turned her around.

"There's a storm outside." she said in a quiet voice.

"What? How can you tell?" he asked confused.

"I can feel the static in the air and the smell of rain is strong. We're close to the exit but I don't want to go out there." she frowned, tightening her arms around herself.

"Damn it. We could try and wait it out." he suggested and pulled her into his chest. She only nodded and wrapped her arms around his torso.

"We might as well sit down." Kidd sighed and sat against the wall as Izumi sat down beside him and leaned on his arm.

"This sucks. It started out so well and now this stupid thunder had to ruin it." Izumi grumbled as she pulled her legs up and her ears stuck down.

"There's no point in complaining. It'll stop eventually." Kidd said poking her head. She only hummed and shivered a little.

"Come here. I'll keep you warm." he said and patted his lap.

"Thank you." she smiled and moved onto his lap so she straddled his lap and rested her head on his chest with her arms around his torso.

Kidd didn't expect her to move into that position and blushed a little at her closeness but wrapped his arms around her none the less, resting them on the bottom on her back.

Izumi could feel his warmth surround her as she instantly calmed down in his arms. She found her feelings strange. She never felt the way she does around Kidd before. She completely trusts him and enjoys his presence, especially when he pays attention to her. He makes her heart beat faster and she wants to spend time with him. No one could ever calm her down as quickly as he could and she liked the comfort he made her feel. The only reason she haven't wondered into his room to sleep yet, was because she was a bit scared of his reaction and she still hadn't fully accepted him as the alpha, until now.

Izumi slowly got drowsy and fell asleep listening to Kidd's heart beat.

"Iz . . . Izumi, damn it. Wake up." Kidd called a little annoyed as he shook her gently.

"What do you want Kidd?" she asked with a groggy voice as she was still half asleep.

"I think the storm stopped now." he said looking at her. He found her half asleep state pretty cute and had to resist the urge to stroke her cheek or pull her back into a hug.

She let out a yawn and sniffed the air a little.

"Yeah. It has. Let's leave." she said and got off him. He instantly missed her body, but got up as well and followed her out of the cave. They ended up at the top of the mountain, giving them a pretty beautiful view of the island. The rain completely stopped now and the sun was shining again.

"It's beautiful." Izumi grinned at the sight. Hearing the cries of some animals, she turned into a full tiger and let out a loud growl as well.

"Let's go back to the ship. I'm getting hungry." Kidd called to her and started walking down.

"Okay." she grinned turning back and followed beside him.

It didn't take as long to get back on shore and the others greeted them happily.

"How did you take that storm, Zum?" Killer asked her.

"I had Kidd to keep me calm, so I was fine." she smiled up at the blond.

"Zumi. We're having a barbecue. Come ignite the fire." Jake called and she walked up to him.

He gestured to the stack of wood and she set them on fire. The white flames soon turned to a normal colour as she dropped her control over them and walked over to Heat.

"What did you find?" she asked him.

"Quite a few fruits and we caught enough boars to feed everyone." he replied pulling her into a hug that she happily returned.

"What were you and captain up to?" Wire asked suggestively.

"We explored the caves behind the waterfall and inside the mountain. There's this insanely beautiful place there. You guys should go check it out." she beamed, completely missing what he was saying or remembered what Kidd did when they were laying in the grass, but completely ignored it.

"We will." Heat chuckled, patting her head.

"Where's Sid?" she asked, noticing that he wasn't with Wire.

"He was chatting up a female monkey last I checked so we left him to it." Wire replied amused.

"What? He's in no condition for mating. That damn idiot." she growled with her ears low.

"My comments go over your head but you come up with that conclusion instantly? What are you?" Wire asked annoyed.

"I know Sid. Stupid horny monkey." she grumbled and walked towards the forest.

"Hey. Where are you going now?" Kidd asked noticing her.

"To fetch Sid. I'll be back in a bit." she said.

"I'll go keep an eye on her." Killer said chuckling and walked after her.

They walked in silence for a few minutes as she followed his scent.

They found him talking to another monkey on one of the trees and Izumi didn't look too amused.

"Get your ass back to the crew. You can womanise when you're healed." she said glaring at him.

'Go away. I have needs.' he said, waving her off.

"I don't give a shit." she growled and rolling his eyes, he jumped down into her arms.

'Happy?' he asked unamused.

"Yes. Now let's go back." she grinned as Killer chuckled and they headed back.

They got back and she helped Jake with preparing their food.

The crew messed about a lot and they had a little fun, throwing a party again. All the food was delicious and they started paying volleyball, with a makeshift net that Jake made with his vine powers.

They split into two teams, with the ones who wanted to play. On one team was Killer, Izumi and Heat, while on the other was Kidd, Wire and Jet. How Izumi was able to convince Kidd to take part was beyond them. He took his fluffy coat and weapons off as most of the crew was walking around shirtless in the heat as well.

Taking their shoes off, they got ready for the game as both teams took their place and smirked at each other. The others were already betting on the outcome and giggling amongst themselves.

"This should be fun." Heat commented.

"You're going down." Izumi pointed at Kidd with a smirk on her face.

"In your dreams. We're going to beat you into the ground." Kidd smirked back.

"How about a little bet? The loosing team has to do something the other team comes up with." Jet suggested as both Izumi's and Kidd's smirks widened.

"I'm in." they both said at the same time making everyone chuckle.

"Alright. If we win you have to walk around in your underwear tomorrow all day." Jet said pointing to Izumi.

"Are you kidding me? You're doing that on purpose." she said glaring at him, making Kidd glare at Jet too, but then he thought about it and a smirk tugged at his lips.

"Are you too scared to lose?" Kidd asked.

"Che. No way. If we win then you guys have to do what we say for the whole of tomorrow." Izumi said grinning at them.

"Game on." both teams said and Jake volunteered to be the referee for their game.

Kidd and Izumi stood close to the net as the others on their team stood back. As Jake threw the ball in the air, they both jumped up and Kidd hit it first, making it go over to Izumi's side. Killer quickly bounced it back and the game began.

It was funny to see them playing, they were actually having fun and enjoying it despite the obvious competitiveness from both teams. Izumi and Killer were really fast but Jet and Kidd were as well, not to mention how tall Kidd and Wire were.

In the end, Kidd's team won as they had the advantage of height.

"Tall mother fuckers." Izumi grumbled as she leaned on the wooden pole of the net annoyed.

"Don't be a sore looser." Kidd said smirking.

"Fine. You won. It's only fair that we deliver on the bet." she said with a sigh.

Kidd chuckled and patted her on the head, making her give him an unimpressed look.

She then yawned and walked off to a comfortable spot under a tree, turning into her tiger form, she laid down and fell asleep.

She was later woken up by the crew's loud cheers and sounds of partying along with the smell of smoke. It was already night and they made a huge bonfire, drinking and having fun.

She turned back to human and joined them smiling.

"You're finally awake." Jet grinned as he pulled her down and draped an arm around her shoulders.

"When did this party happen?" she asked chuckling.

"You were sleeping." Wire grinned, handing her a mug of alcohol.

"Captain said not to wake you." Jake said smiling.

They partied well into the night and most of them fell asleep on the beach.

As the world came back and Izumi opened her eyes, she found herself laying on top of a sleeping Kidd. They were on the beach still and she took her time to take in his sleeping features. His goggles were pulled down to his neck and his hair fell in his eyes slightly. His face was completely relaxed and his lips were slightly parted. It was rare to see him so peaceful so she took her time looking him over with a faint smile on her face.

"Why are you staring at me?." Kidd suddenly asked in a quiet husky tone, cracking one eye open to look at Izumi.

She just stared into his eyes surprised with her cheeks pink.

"Sorry." she said quietly and tried to shuffle off him, but he wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her in place.

"I didn't say I didn't like it." he smirked as she was laying on his chest with her arms on his shoulders to keep her up.

This comment only made her blush more and Kidd chuckled, moving his hand to rub behind her ear. This earned him purring and she laid back down, snuggling closer.

"When you love birds are done cuddling, I need to talk to you Kidd." Killer called from not far away from them. He hated to ruin their little moment but he really did need to talk to the captain.

Both of them shot up blushing and Izumi walked away while Kidd walked up to Killer annoyed.

"What do you want?" he grumbled.

"And why the fuck are you only in your underwear?" he asked raising an eyebrow. Killer was only in black boxer briefs and his mask.

"Punishment from the game yesterday. Anyway, I need you to take a look at this." he said and pulled him away to look at a map and some other things.

Izumi got back to the ship and after a shower, pulled on her black bikini. She knew that she had to be in her underwear today, but she wanted to go swimming and the bikini was basically underwear but for swimming. She really didn't understand why people found women wearing bikini's acceptable but going around in their underwear was considered offensive. She just shrugged it off though and went to have breakfast.

"Zumi. Looking good." Jin said and winked at her, making her blush.

She frowned and sat down. Heat was in his boxers as well and looked at her amused.

"Those aren't underwear." Wire said chuckling.

"What's the difference? They look the same and pretty much made of the same fabric, except these are a little thinner." she said avoiding eye-contact.

"I never thought about it that way. I guess you're right." he replied in thought.

Throughout breakfast, she was pouting and her ears stuck down.

"What's wrong Zum?" Killer asked amused.

"I feel uncomfortable. The guys are staring at me." she grumbled annoyed.

"Mind your own business and stop staring at Iz!" Kidd yelled and everyone turned away.

"Thanks." she smiled up at him.

Some of them were put on duty to clean the whole ship while they had time and others went back to the beach after they finished eating so Izumi pulled Killer away to swim. The ocean was very clear and she liked the look of all he fishes, so she dragged him away to explore.

While swimming around, they were attacked by a sea king. Izumi immediately got in a fight with it as Killer didn't have his spinning scythes with him and he was at a disadvantage in the water.

It was a giant rat looking thing and as it tried to bite Izumi she kicked it in the nose, angering it further. She had a little trouble fighting it in the water as well so she turned into her tiger form and attacked it like that.

It's safe to say that she chased it away but she got a little cut up by it's claws.

Swimming to shore, she turned back to human and walked towards the guys, pushing her wet fringe up and weaved her hand through her hair so it wouldn't be in the way. Seeing her wet and a little bloodied, some of them were blushing while others had nose bleeds.

"Heat. Got cut up." she said sheepishly as she made her way over to him.

"You need to be more careful." he frowned and glared at the other guys.

"Mind your own business." he growled at them.

Pulling her to sit on a tree trunk, he patched up the wounds on her arms and some on her legs.

"Thank you." she grinned at him and ran off.

'You really should put something on.' Sid said in a bored tone as he was chilling under a tree.

"You know we lost the game and have to stay like this until night." she said with a sigh and sat down beside him.

'I know, but you're drawing the guys' attention to you more than necessary.' he frowned glaring at them.

"I know. I don't like it either but it can't be helped." she frowned.

"Hey, Iz." Kidd called and with an annoyed sigh, she walked up to him.  
"What is it?" she asked with her arms crossed.

"Put this on." he said handing her a pretty big grey t-shirt.

"Why?" she asked looking at it confused.

"Because the crew is staring at you and I don't like it." he glared at her and pushed it in her hands.

"It's yours. But what about the punishment?" she asked after she picked up his scent on it and pulled it over her head. It went down to the middle of her thighs and the sleeves to her elbow.

"I'm the captain. I can overwrite that." he said looking her over and blushed a little. He didn't expect her to look so good in his shirt, maybe he should make her wear more of his stuff. He really didn't like the looks the crew was giving her and all he wanted to do was hide her from their lewd eyes.

"Thank you." she smiled up at him.

"I think I'll go explore a little bit more before we have to leave." she said looking at the forest.

"I'll go with you." he said and they walked off.

"Well that looked interesting." Heat said standing beside Killer as both witnessed what happened.

"Yeah. They're getting closer." he smirked under his mask.

"When do you think they will finally get together?" Heat asked curiously.

"I don't know. Kidd's not much of a romantic and Zum is very dense. It's hard to tell, but it's best to let them be so they could work it out themselves." Killer said.

Throughout the whole walk, Izumi couldn't concentrate on the animals around her, she was constantly aware of Kidd walking nonchalantly beside her. Usually she didn't pay so much attention but for some reason, this time she couldn't take her mind off him. She found herself glancing at him several times. He wasn't wearing his coat and his weapons weren't with him either so she could see his toned chest and the way they moved as he walked. She blushed as she realised she was staring and tried to concentrate on other things, it didn't help that she was wearing his shirt either. It made her body feel a little hot and she was freaking out why she was acting this way.

"You alright?" Kidd called, making her jump.

"What? Uh yeah. Don't mind me." she said waving him off, but he could tell there was something bothering her.

"You sure about that? You look a little stressed." he said looking her in the eyes curiously.

"Ignore it. It's nothing." she said and suddenly turned around.

"I forgot something. Let's go back." Izumi frowned and started running back.  
"Hey! Wait!" Kidd yelled and ran after her.

"Heat! I need to talk to you. It's urgent and a private matter." Izumi called as she ran into him.

"Wow. Hey. What's wrong?" he asked as she refused to mover her head form his chest.

"I feel weird. Help me." she groaned annoyed.

"Okay. Let's go back to the ship." he said and pulled her away.

"What happened?" Killer asked Kidd, with his eyebrows raised under his mask.

"I have no idea. She suddenly ran off. She looked kinda stressed though." he said annoyed.

"I wonder what's wrong." Killer said a little worried now.

"What did you do?" Wire asked as he walked up and Sid was glaring daggers at Kidd.

"Nothing. I have no fucking idea what's gotten into her." he growled angrily and stomped off.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Walking into the infirmary, Izumi sat down on one of the beds as Heat sat opposite her on another bed.

"So what's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"I . . . I feel weird and . . . my body's acting weird." she said looking at her lap embarrassed.

"Could you elaborate on that?" Heat asked a little amused.

"I feel hot, even now. I don't know why." she said clutching Kidd's shirt that she was wearing.

"When we walked into the forest again, I couldn't concentrate on the animals. I was so distracted and all I could focus on was Kidd. He wasn't doing anything but my senses were on overdrive. I couldn't take my mind off him and I was super sensitive of his presence. I tried not to look at him but I kept glancing over. What's wrong with me Heat? What kind of disease did I catch?" she explained and looked at him desperately. It caught him a little off guard and he looked at her surprised.

"This never happened to me before. And I feel weird when he touches me." she frowned.

"Haha. You're not ill and you haven't caught any disease." Heat chuckled amused as he grinned at her.

"Then what's wrong with me?" she frowned desperately.

"Nothing really. You just like him. By what I can tell, you like him a lot. Was there something that triggered this interest. Did he do something?" he asked looking her in the eyes as she thought about his question after calming down a little.

"Uh . . . he uh . . . we laid down in the grass and uhm . . . he kissed my neck. It made me feel weird but I tried to ignore it. Before that he bit my neck while I was a tiger so he proved his dominance. This morning too, I unconsciously stared at him while he was sleeping. I don't like these new impulses, I never had them before." she said pulling her legs up and hugged her knees.  
"It's alright. You'll get used to them. There's nothing wrong with you. You're attracted to the captain. I think it's best if you keep close to him and see how you react." he suggested.

"You think so?" she asked looking up at him with big yellow eyes.

"Yeah. Don't be scared. He means no harm. It's great that you finally accepted him as the alpha now." he grinned.

She just hummed in reply and he pulled her up so they could go back to shore. She immediately ran to the tree Sid was napping under and turning into a tiger cub curled up beside him falling asleep.

"What was the matter?" Killer asked as Heat sat down beside him.

"Oh. She's started to show an interest in the captain and it freaked her out." he chuckled and explained what he told him. Heat knew that Killer was close to her so he felt that he was allowed to tell him this.

"I see. That's good." Killer laughed.

"What are you idiots giggling about? Did you find out why Iz was so stressed?" Kidd asked walking up to them.

"Nothing, nothing." Heat said, trying to suppress a grin.

"She was worried about Sid." Killer said, quickly covering for her.

They heard growling and looked to the tree Izumi and Sid were sleeping under. They found that the two were growling at each other now and Izumi looked pretty pissed in her tiger form, even Sid turned to his gorilla form.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Izumi growled angrily as Sid kept talking but no one knew what he was saying, the only thing they knew that it was pissing her off.

"You are getting on my last nerve. Stop before you regret it." she growled trying not to attack him.

"Fine! I don't fucking care if you get worse! Just do what you want and die!" she finally yelled and ran into the forest.

Sid let out a loud yell in anger and flopped onto the sand in a bit of pain. Heat ran up to him to check him over while Kidd ran after Izumi.

They had no idea what just happened or why it did, but they were a little worried.

Running after Izumi, Kidd found her attacking a panther and she ripped it to shreds.

"Wow. Iz, what are you fucking doing?" he asked stopping by a tree as she stopped and turned to him growling.

"I haven't been hunting for a while. My instincts just kicked in a little too hard." she said changing back to her human form.

"Well, calm the fuck down. What the hell happened back there with Sid?" he asked walking up to her. She still didn't look too happy but he didn't care.

"He was pissed that I stopped him from fucking that bitch and started to tease me with stuff. He knows exactly what makes me tick and witch of my buttons to push to get me riled up fast. I'm just glad I managed to stop myself from attacking him." she signed holding her head.

"That bad huh? Do you want to spar to calm it down a little?" he asked smirking.

"Yeah. I'd love that actually." she smiled and they got into fighting stances.

It wasn't until a few hours later that the two walked back to the shore and by that time, they needed to set sail so they went back to the ship.

Izumi walked off to her room before anyone could ask anything and avoided Sid for a while as well.

Heat managed to catch her after her shower and re-bandaged her wounds. Other than that, she stayed clear of anyone for the rest of the day and Sid was with Wire.

After dinner, Izumi followed Kidd to his workshop and sat opposite him, hugging her legs with her head rested on them. She fell in and out of consciousness for a while until Kidd decided to talk to her.

"Why have you been avoiding Sid? Shouldn't you make up already?" he asked looking at her as her ears twitched suddenly hearing his voice and she looked up at him.

"I don't want to. If he wants to talk to me he has to apologise first. Why should I be the one to make the first move? It was his fault." she said with a frown.

"Just don't cause any problems." he sighed.

Little bit later on she walked out saying something about wanting to write and Kidd went to bed as well after he finished.

With a yawn, Izumi closed her book and put her pen down. Changing into a pair of black pajama shorts and a red tank top, she turned to her tiger form and mindlessly walked out of her room, following her instincts.

She walked into Kidd's room and curled up beside him, falling asleep instantly.

. . .

As Kidd woke up, he found something very unusual. There was a pressure on his right arm and chest with something fluffy and warm on him. He could also hear light breathing from beside his head.

So turning his head to his right, he came face to face with a fluffy tiger. Surprised at first, he just stared at Izumi but then smirked that she finally joined him too. He didn't feel like waking her up just yet so he studied her tiger body. It was beautiful, the colour of her stripes, her muscle and fur. Picking a huge paw up from his chest, he held it up and poked at the little pads amused. Running his fingers through her fur felt amazing and he couldn't help moving closer to her and hugged her fluffy body.

"Hmm. What?" she murmured half asleep.

"Morning sunshine." Kidd smirked in a husky voice, startling her.

She moved away a little and stared at him surprised.

"How did I get here?" she asked, relaxing and laid back down on the huge bed.

"No clue. The same way you end up with the others." he said chuckling and scathed behind her ear.

Purring, she moved closer to him and rested her head on his chest.

She then turned back to human and cuddled up to him more, enjoying his warmth.

"I didn't know you were such a cuddle bug." he said amused.

"You're warm." she purred, snuggling her head into his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What made you decide to join me?" he asked.

"You're the alpha. I guess because I don't see you as a rival anymore, I'm okay to do this." she explained reaching a hand up and ran her finger through his hair.

"I love your hair." she grinned and rested her head on his shoulder so she could look at his face.

"Do you now?" he smirked, making her blush.

"You know, now that I accepted you as my alpha, you promised I could mark your skin." she smirked up at him with a husky voice and stroked her fingers down his chest, making him shiver a bit under her touch.

He suddenly flipped them over and hovered over her with his arms eater side of her, trapping her in.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked surprised.

"You tease me too much." he said huskily, looking her in the eyes.

"What? How? What do I do?" she asked confused.

"Of course you don't realise." he said rolling his eyes.

"I'll let you do the tattoo on one condition." he smirked getting a little closer, making her blush more and put her hands on his chest. She could feel his muscles and his closeness to her, making her heart pound and body feel hot.

"What's the condition?" she asked with a quiet voice, trying not to react to him so much and keep calm.

"You stop going to anyone else to sleep. If you don't want to sleep alone then just come here. Don't go to anyone else but me." he smirked with his hair falling into his eyes slightly. She found him hot as hell like this and his request only made her heart beat more. She didn't know why he suddenly wanted her to only sleep here but the way he said it and the look he gave her, made her get lost in those orange eyes of his.

She could only nod in agreement as he grinned and flipped them back around, content with her answer. Seeing the opening, she tried to get up but he stopped her by wrapping a strong arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Kidd." she said, trying to get away.

"Just go back to sleep." he said in a husky voice near her ear, sending a shiver down her spine and he rolled onto his side so he hug her from behind.

While he fell back asleep, she could only lay there wide eyed, aware of his body pressed against her back and her heart racing. She didn't know why her body reacted so strongly to him and she wanted to get out of his arms as soon as possible so she could calm down.

When she felt his grip on her loosen, she turned to her tiger cub form and managed to get out. She quickly ran out and straight to Heat.

"It happened again but this time worse." she whisper yelled at him. He was stood by the railing talking to Killer.

"What happened?" Killer asked confused.

"I woke up beside him and then I got carried away. He told me I can tattoo him but only if I promise to only sleep beside him and then my heart was beating really fast and I had that damn urge to touch him again. Argh. What is going on with me?" she ranted pacing a little and rubbed her head with her hands.

"Zumi, calm down." Heat said, stopping her from pacing and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"It's natural for you to react to him that way. Stop freaking out and let it happen. You may never have felt this way before or experienced these things, but they're nothing negative." Killer said reassuring her.

"Yeah. I'm sure you have a similar affect on him too." Heat said with a smile.

"You think so?" she asked blushing at the thought.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"It means that you've developed feelings for Kidd and you're also sexually attracted to him." Killer said bluntly with a very happy smirk under his mask.

"That's one way to put it." Heat said amused and let her go.

"But why?" she frowned.

"How should we know? It's not something you do on purpose." Heat chuckled.

"Yeah. I guess it can't be helped." she sighed and walked back inside, leaving the two very amused at her reaction to her feelings.

At breakfast things were normal and Izumi talked to Sid again. It looked like they made up now so they stopped worrying over that. It was weird seeing the two avoid each other or send glares at one another.

"So you're all better now? Completely healed?" Izumi asked Sid.

'Yeah. Heat said I was good now.' he replied happily.

"So do you want to spar?" she grinned.

'Of course.' he smirked back.

"Woo. Let's go!" She yelled and ran out with him.

"Haha. Energetic woman." Killer chuckled.

"Sure is." Kidd agreed with a smile.

He walked out and into his room with Killer following along.

"So what do you think about Zum?" Killer asked as he leaned on Kidd's desk.

"She's a good fighter and I admire her spirit." Kidd replied.

"Yeah, but what do you feel about her?" he elaborated, getting straight to the point.

"Why are you so curious?" he asked raising an eyebrow at the masked blond.

"Because she fit in now and everyone's quite fond of her. She's a beautiful woman Kidd, if you don't make a move soon, someone else will." Killer said amused as Kidd sent him a glare.

"She's off limits." he growled.

"That wont stop her from falling for anyone else." he chuckled.

"What do you want to know anyway?" Kidd asked annoyed.

"How do you feel about her?" he asked with a smirk under his mask. Kidd though about it for a few minutes until he finally replied.

"I feel at ease when she's around. It goes without saying, she's hot as hell. I like it that she's so different and it makes me feel awesome that I finally managed to make her see me as the alpha. Although I didn't like how the guys were looking at her yesterday." he said frowning at the end.

"Men will always be men Kidd, you can't stop them from staring." Killer said.

"Guess not. Sometimes it's just frustrating how I can't take my eyes off her and I just have the urge to touch or hold her. It's annoying but I want to protect her." he said with a smile tugging at his lips.

"Sounds to me you really like her." Killer said smirking.

"Shut up." Kidd glared at his best friend. It wasn't easy admitting all that.

"She's new to the whole concept of liking someone. So don't push her but don't avoid the subject either." Killer advised an stood up straight.

"And you know this how?" Kidd asked unamused.

"She complained about it to me and Heat this morning." he chuckled and left.

"What? Killer . . ." Kidd called after him but he was already gone.

A few hours later Jin alerted everyone that a Marine ship had spotted them and they got ready for fighting.

"You gonna be okay?" Izumi asked Killer as he didn't have his blades, cause one of them was broken.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." he chuckled and ruffled her hair.

As soon as it got close enough, Izumi jumped over and attacked them, avoiding getting shot.

She grinned as she dodged the blades and bullets the Marines tried to kill her with and retaliated with her own attacks that broke some bones and with a couple of well placed blows they also killed some as well.

Glancing over, she was glad to see Killer doing great against his opponents. Even without his blades he was an amazing fighter.

With a chuckle, she ran up the Marine ship's mast and looked down at the two ships, watching her crew-mates fighting. She grinned happily, everyone was so awesome and she loved the way they fought.

She walked to the end of the yard and doing a front flip in the air, landed beside Kidd and joined him on their ship. He smirked down at her and sent a few swords into some Marine's bodies, killing them as she sent fire balls at them.

Fighting beside Kidd made her even more happy and empowered her attacks. She really did accept him as the alpha now and it felt natural to stand by his side.

"Nice one Iz." he grinned as she blew a hole in a guy's stomach with her fire.

"No too shabby yourself." she smirked back as he sent a sword into someone's head.

There seemed to be a lot of Marines and they just kept coming at them.

"Sid watch your back!" Izumi heard Jin yell as Sid was in his gorilla form either shooting at the Marines or fighting them bare handedly. She grinned at him and blocked someone's kick, pushing him back.

She then heard a gunshot and turned back to see someone shooting at Sid. They missed the first time but as they aimed again, he was occupied with something else and didn't notice it. She couldn't warn him in time or kill the guy so he pulled the trigger, shooting Sid in the chest. Izumi watched wide eyed as Sid fell backwards and hit the deck with a thud.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Izumi watched wide eyed as Sid fell backwards and hit the deck with a thud. She ran up to him and kneeled down frantically so she could check if he was alright. Everyone could feel the tension as it went quiet, even the Marines were staring at the two as they were curious what happened.

'Zum-Zum. Don't . . . worry. You have to keep strong.' Sid said with a weak voice as his eyes weren't focused and he could hardly move. Holding back the pain so he wont have to show it to her.

"Sid . . . you have to hang in there." Izumi whispered shaking as she looked him in the eyes.

'Thank you . . . for showing me such a . . . great adventure . . . and amazing group of people.' he said smiling slightly.

"Sid don't say that. You will make it. Heat!" she said and desperately yelled for the doctor. He quickly ran up to them and looked at the bullet wound on Sid's chest.

'I know it's the end for me Zum-Zum. Please take care of yourself and the crew.' he said as she unwillingly teared up.

"The bullet hit too close to his heart." Heat said quietly and looked at Izumi with a sad apologetic look.

"No." she whimpered with her hand on her mouth in disbelief.

'I love you Zum-Zum.' he whispered with a grin on his face. His eyelids dropped and the strength left his body as his heart made the last beat.

"I love you too." she whispered in a shaky voice as she tried to keep herself calm. She had a lot of emotions running wild inside her and she could hardly keep lids on them. She was heart broken as she could hardly believe it, she was upset, scared, frustrated and most of all pissed beyond belief.

She let out a very loud scream that turned into a growl and before people registered what was happening, she was in front of the guy who shot Sid. She grabbed him by the head and crashed him into the deck, sitting on him, she pushed her hand into his stomach and pulled his intestines out then ripped his throat out.

Everyone was quiet and could only stare at her, the Marines were terrified and the Pirates were a bit uneasy as well. They knew not to mess with Izumi when she snapped and she looked pissed.

She glanced up at another Marine, giving him a very sharp glare. They could feel the blood lust and anger radiating off her in waves, they never felt it this strong before either. She looked like a wild beast that went rabid. Before anyone could react she was in front of another Marine and ripped his arm clean off, then ripped his heart out. She attacked every Marine in her sight, leaving blood everywhere and a giant mess of body parts and organs scattered on deck.

They were surprised to see her kill with so much anger and violence. She was bare handedly ripping people to shreds like it was paper. They were just lucky she managed to tell the difference between her friends and the Marines.

She jumped over to the Marine's ship and killed everyone on there as well. She jumped back, covered in blood and slowly walked up to Sid, lightly growling with her ears stuck down and fists clenched.

They could see the anger and feel the hysterical emotions running through her as she stared at him.

Walking up behind her, Kidd hit her on the back of her head, knocking her out before she could do something stupid or hurt someone on the crew. Everyone was stunned and frozen to their spot as they had trouble comprehending what just happened. Everything happened so fast and violently and they were worried about Izumi.

"Clean up this mess! And take Sid to the infirmary!" Kidd barked picking up Izumi and walked inside.

Everyone scurried around to do just that. Heat and Killer grabbed Sid and took him inside as well.

He turned back to his golden lion tamarin form and they laid him on one of the beds. Heat cleaned him up and pulled a white sheet over him.

"What will happen to Zumi now? Will she even be able to recover from this?" Heat asked frowning. Everyone was pretty worried about her and upset about Sid's death.

"I don't know. We just have to do everything in our power to comfort her and help her." Killer said frowning under his mask.

Everyone was silent at lunch, unable to say anything and just ate what they could, most not even having an appetite.

Standing up with an annoyed sigh, Kidd walked out and to his room, where he left Izumi. He asked Heat to clean her from all the blood and change her into clean clothes, which in this case was another one of his oversized shirts. He hated the fact that one of his crew members died and he couldn't do anything about it. He also hated that he felt so helpless and shaken up. He didn't know why he was so worried about Izumi and that uneasy feeling just wouldn't go away.

Walking into the room, he walked up to his bed and sat down beside her. Even in her sleep she looked a little distressed.

"It's gonna be alright." he whispered brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

In a few hours, she finally woke up. But she was screaming and thrashing about.

"Iz. It's okay. You're alright." Kidd called as he pulled her into his arms to try and calm her down.

"Sid!" she yelled with so much pain and sorrow in her voice. It made Kidd hurt seeing her like this and he hugged her tighter.

"It's gonna be okay." he repeated as she kept screaming.

She eventually hugged him back and buried her face in his chest, shaking and mumbling incoherent things, while Kidd stroked her hair, trying to calm her.

He ended up laying down with her on top of him hugging him, as he was lazily stroking her hair. It actually helped her calm down and her breathing evened out a little.

"You alright?" he asked quietly.

"No." she replied with a hoarse voice, neither moving.

"He's gone. I will never see him or play with him ever again." she said and tightened her hold on Kidd.

"No, but you can't break because of this. Instead of thinking about things like that, you should remember the good times you had with him, all the fun adventures you went on and all the laughs. If you remember those times then he will always live on inside you." Kidd said surprisingly softly. He didn't even know he had it in him to be able to say those things.

"I know it will take a little time for you to be alright, but I'm here. I won't go anywhere so just rely on me. I can't bring him back but I can make you feel better." he said and hugged her tighter.

"Thank you Kidd." she said with so much sincerity and gratefulness. It was surprising that she was able to calm down and she just laid there trying not to break. Kidd was helping her more than he realised and she was thankful for that.

They laid there for another few hours in silence. She needed time to accept the fact that Sid was no longer with them and she needed to calm down.

She skipped dinner and Kidd stayed with her as she eventually fell asleep at night, cuddling up to him closely. He was glad that she wasn't freaking out as much as he thought she would have and was relying on him. He knew how hard this was on her and he could only hope that she would be able to bounce back and be her cheery self again.

In the morning, Kidd managed to wake up first and pulled Izumi closer to him. She eventually woke too, a bit shakily but she wasn't freaking out like she was the day before. Instead she seemed to have blocked out all of her emotions.

"You alright?" Kidd asked looking her in the eyes, but she only replied with a small nod.

"Let's go see what the other's are doing. You alright seeing the guys?" he asked and she did the same thing, just a small nod.

"Alright, you go change and I'll be right behind you." he said after hugging her as a last attempt at cheering her up and she walked out and into her own room.

Kidd quickly changed and walked into her room. She was dressed and sat on her bed looking around with a blank face.

"Let's go have breakfast. I'm sure everyone's worried about you." he said softly and pulled her up.

She hugged him tightly, mumbling a thank you and walked out with him to the galley.

Everyone sent her worried glances as they walked in. Kidd gestured to leave her be and they sat down by their table.

"How are you feeling Zum?" Killer asked softly looking at her and she just shrugged.

"It's going to be okay." Heat smiled pulling her into a one armed hug and stroked her hair as she only nodded at him.

"Why isn't she talking?" Killer whispered to Kidd worried.

"I have no idea. She woke up this morning pretty much void of emotion." he replied frowning.

"Maybe that's her way of dealing." Killer said with a very worried look under his mask.

"Maybe." Kidd nodded.

"You need to eat something Zumi. You don't want to get ill." Jake said softly as he put a plate of food in front of her.

She only nodded and picked up her fork. At least she ate something so they weren't super worried about her.

"Kidd. Because we're out on sea, I think we should give Sid a Viking's funeral." Killer said, grabbing Izumi's attention.

"That would be nice. He always said that after he finished with all the adventures he wanted a funeral like that." she said smiling lightly at the first mate.

They were happy she finally said something but worried how hoarse and shaky her voice sounded.

"We'll get everything ready." Killer nodded smiling under his mask, it was good to see some progress.

It was quiet for the rest of breakfast and a little awkward. No one knew what to say to make her feel better and they were upset about Sid's death as well. Everyone loved him and will definitely miss the monkey.

"I wanna see him." she suddenly said looking Kidd in the eyes.

"Okay." he nodded and they got up. Heat and Killer joined them in the infirmary as well.

She carefully walked up to the bed he was put on and shakily pulled the sheet from him.

"Look at what happened to you." she said with a shaky voice. Kidd walked up behind her and hugged her, hoping she's not gonna break down again.

"It's okay." he whispered to her reassuringly.

"I wasn't able to do anything to stop it." she frowned.

"It wasn't your fault Iz." Kidd said tightening his hold on her.

"But I saw it happen. I should have done something." she said gripping his arm with her ears stuck down.

"There wasn't anything you could have done. It happened too fast for anyone to do anything. Don't blame yourself." he said as Heat and Killer walked up beside them as well.

"He will always be with us Zum. As long as we remember him." Killer said resting an hand on her head and stroked it softly.

"He died a warrior and he was smiling. He had no regrets Zumi. And nor should you." Heat said and kissed her on the head.

"You're right. He would laugh at me if I cried or got depressed." she sniffed lightly smiling, thinking of his angry face.

"He would." all three of them agreed.

Kidd took her to her room while the guys got ready. She wrote some stuff down as he sat on her bed. She seemed calm enough, but he knew she wasn't alright inside.

"What do you feel?" he suddenly asked surprising them both as she stopped writhing and looked at him.

"Emptiness. Like I just lost half my heart." she replied frowning.

"I . . . hurt but you calm that. I'm angry . . . but the beast inside me is asleep. I'm scared . . . but I have you to push that to the side. So all I'm really left with is emptiness." she said quietly with a sigh.

"You will feel warm again and the joy will return to you. I promise." he said standing up and walked up to her.

"You think so?" she asked looking up at him.

"I know so." he smiled and rested his palms on her cheeks.

"It's alright to feel pain. It's natural to feel lost after someone you loved just died. I will be here beside you to help you through it." he said smiling and leaned down to kiss her forehead. The action surprised the both of them and they blushed lightly.

"Thank you. I don't know what would have happened without you here." she said smiling lightly.

"We're ready." Killer said walking in.

"Alright." Kidd nodded and pulled Izumi up as they walked to the deck.

The ship was anchored and they had a little raft set up with Sid on it, everyone was just waiting for them.

"Sid." Izumi hummed looking at him.

"It's gonna be alright." Kidd whispered and she nodded.

She watched quietly as Heat and Wire put the raft in the water and let it float a little ways away from them as they were stood by the railing at the side of the ship. Everyone was quiet and as Jin was preparing to fire the fire arrow, Izumi stopped him.

"Let me." she smiled.

"Oh okay." he nodded and stepped back.

She stood at her side and pulled her arms up in an archer's pose. White flames morphed into a shape of a bow and arrow and she pulled the arrow back, aiming her shot.

"Farewell my brother." she said softly and let go of the arrow as it hit the raft and engulfed it in flames and it turned to a normal colour as Izumi slowly dropped her arms.

Kidd grabbed her hand and squeezed it, reassuring her as she smiled up at him.

"Everybody hurts  
Everybody bleeds  
Everybody bends to fill a need  
Everybody's born with their own curse  
And I'm not alone." she started to sing in a beautiful slow melody and everyone smiled lightly. (M.I.N.E (end this way) by Five Finger Death Punch)  
"Everybody cries  
Everybody breathes  
Everybody wants to feel they're free  
Deep inside I know what I am worth  
A life of my own

It could have been much worse  
But it should have been better

I know I'd hurt you, deserted you  
And now I see it clear  
I pulled you closer, tighter  
'Cause I knew you'd disappear

I just can't compromise, apologize  
There's nothing you can say  
We both knew  
It would always end this way." she sang watching the flames dance as some of them had tears in their eyes. They really did like Sid and admired her strength for staying so calm and that her voice wasn't quivering despite the obvious pain that was evident in it.

"Everybody pains  
Everybody grieves  
Everybody's making off like thieves  
Every soul's aching for release  
You're not alone

Everybody lives  
Everybody leaves  
Everybody begs best on their knees  
Everybody's got the same disease  
No one's alone

It could have been much worse  
But it should have been better

I know I'd hurt you, deserted you  
And now I see it clear  
I pulled you closer, tighter  
'Cause I knew you'd disappear

I just can't compromise, apologize  
There's nothing you can say  
We both knew  
It'd always end this way

Knew it'd end this way  
We knew it'd end this way

I know I'd hurt you, deserted you  
And now I see it clear  
I pulled you closer, tighter  
'Cause I knew you'd disappear

I just can't compromise, apologize  
There's nothing you can say  
We both knew  
It would always end this way

We both know  
It'd always end this way

We both knew  
It would always end this way." she finished as Wire, Jake and Jin were crying and some others were sniffing as well trying not to.

"That was beautiful Zum." Killer said softly, smiling at her under his mask.

"I decided." she said with new found strength in her voice.

"If I let this get to me then he would only be angry. I have to stay strong and live for him. I will train and get stronger so I will be able to protect my friends and I will never let anyone die." she said with that determination burning in her eyes again.

"Good." Kidd said with a grin. He was surprised that she said that, but all the more proud and he gained a new kind of respect for her as the crew looked just as proud at her as he was.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

After they could no longer see traces of the raft, they set sail again. With heavy hearts, but they were looking forward to the future as Izumi herself said that they have to focus on it instead of moping around.

True to her words, Izumi asked Killer and Jake to train her.

She was seemingly fine, as one could be after loosing a family member. She would occasionally walk into something or talk to Sid as he was there beside her, sometimes quickly look in a direction then have a disappointed look on her face. The other's could tell she saw him out of the corner of her eyes, she was used to him being around and now that he wasn't, it was taking it's toll on her.

"How are you holding up?" Jin asked as they were walking in for lunch after they sparred.

"Good. I think I need to do some training with my fire as well." Izumi replied with a light smile. She then walked face first into the door of the galley.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sure." she frowned holding her nose with her ears stuck down.

"Alright." he chuckled and they walked to their tables.

"Iz. How are you?" Kidd asked with a smile.

"I'm fine. Stop asking that same stupid question. I'm fucking tired of hearing it." she snapped suddenly. It surprised them and only angered Kidd.

"Well sorry for being fucking worried about your well being." he growled standing up.

"I told you I was fine. What don't you people understand about that?" she glared up at him.

"Because you're not fine. I can fucking tell just by looking into your eyes. I know you're hurting and despite showing a strong front, you're trying to deal with it." Kidd growled and glared down at her.

"It would help more if you'd stop asking and let me deal." she said frowning but backed off a little.

"You're not supposed to deal with it on your own. That's what we're here for." he said with a sigh, calming himself down.

"Just sit down and eat." he said sitting back down as she did as told.

"Maybe asking that question isn't really helping at all." Killer said frowning.

"It makes it worse." she mumbled.

At least she was showing emotion now. The first few days she was just void.

She joined Kidd at night now, but she was getting up late and he woke quite a few times at night because she had a nightmare, he of course would calm her down and go back to sleep. They were pretty proud of her for handling the situation so gracefully. Most people would just cry and break when loosing a loved one, they were happy she was so strong.

"When do we get to the next island?" Izumi asked from beside Killer.

"Tomorrow if the weather stays this good." he replied chuckling.

"What kind of island is it?" she grinned.

"It's a fair sized island and I hear a royal family lives on it." he said.  
"Royalty?" she asked chuckling.

"Sid we should see how easily we could piss them off." she grinned and turned to her right excitedly but there was no one there.

"Right." she said clearing her throat and looked back out to sea.

"I can't wait." she smiled awkwardly and ran inside.

"Zum." Killer frowned a little worried. He saw the pain that flashed in her eyes for a moment there. This was her sixth time doing that this week.

Running into Kidd's workshop, she ran into his back as he was working on something.

"Wow. Iz, what the fuck are you doing?" he growled annoyed for getting disturbed so suddenly.

"I did it again. This time in front of Killer." she said hiding her face in the back on his neck.

"Okay. Sit here." he sighed and pulled her into his lap.

"What happened?" he asked brushing the loose strands of hair out of her face.

"I asked about the next island and he told me there's a royal family there so I said we should piss them off to Sid." she frowned looking down.

"Hey, it's alright. You didn't do anything wrong. You just got excited and out of habit, called out to him." Kidd said pulling her into a hug.

"But I've been doing that a lot." she pouted.

"I'm pretty sure Wire has the same problem. Although he doesn't walk into anything." he said chuckling.

"Hey. I'm not that bad." she frowned and playfully punched him.

"Thank you." she smiled up at him.

"No worries." he smiled back and pulled her back into another hug, just enjoying each other's embrace.

She stayed in there for the rest of the day in his lap and he rested his head on her shoulder while she watched him work. She was curious about her reactions to him, now that she stopped freaking out about them. She quite liked how he made her heart beat faster when he got close and no one else could achieve the same, well except when she was fighting them, but that was different.

As Izumi walked into Kidd's room for the night, he stepped out of the bathroom in just a towel around his waist at the same moment she closed the door. They both froze and stared at each other surprised for a few seconds. Izumi quickly changed into her tiger form and jumped on his bed, hiding her face in the sheets.

With a chuckle, Kidd patted her on the head amused and got dressed for bed. Laying down beside her, he rubbed behind her ears making her purr and cuddle up to him in her tiger form.

"You're adorable, you know that?" he asked with an amused grin.

"Shut up." she mumbled hiding her face in his neck.

. . .

In the morning, Izumi did her yoga as usual, after she sneaked out of Kidd's room. Right now, she couldn't even sleep in her own room if she wanted to. Sleeping alone was a little too painful still and Kidd calmed her down so it was best that she stayed with him.

After breakfast, they were happily chatting about the upcoming island and kept Izumi in a good mood. She's been smiling more as of late as well.

The island came into view and Izumi watched it grinning.

"No running off. We all know you're trouble." Killer warned her.

"I'll try." she chuckled.

The island was finally close and they prepared to dock. Kidd barked some orders to stock up on the stuff they needed and a handful of men to stick with him. That included Killer, Izumi, Jake, Heat, Wire and Jet.

"Let's go." he called and they walked into the city. It was pretty big and good looking with some pretty tall buildings further in.

Not even five minutes later, they got surrounded by Marines.

"There's a marine base on the island as well." Killer commented remembering it.

"Let's kill them." Izumi growled with a sadistic smirk on her face.

"Stop right there! Kidd Pirates, you are under arrest!" the leader yelled his usual bullshit as Kidd rolled his eyes.

"Kill them all." he simply said and activated his devil fruit.

Everyone attacked with huge grins on their faces and wiped out all the Marines. They really needed that fight, even if they weren't involved in Sid's death, it was still the Marines' doing and getting a little aggressive felt great for them.

The citizens all took refuge by then and only the dead bodies remained in the area they were in.

Izumi suddenly jumped back and beside Kidd, avoiding a gun shot.

"What a vulgar display of power." came a low husky female's voice.

"I love it." she said amused and jumped in front of them on the street from a rooftop with a rifle in her hand that she rested on her left shoulder.

She was a very tall, skinny and lanky woman with white hair. It was shaved on the right side and a long fringe covered her left eye, reaching down to a bit below her chin, the top and back of her hair was short and stuck out messily as the front was more straight and longer. She had big purple eyes and black snake bite rings on her lips with several piercings in her ears as well. She wore light blue and dark grey patterned three quarter genie pants, a black long sleeved shirt with a wide neckline that stopped halfway down her forearms and a different purple fabric continued to her knuckles and reached down a few inches past her hips. She was also wearing a dark grey waistcoat and black ankle boots that reached four inches above her ankle loosely.

"Who the fuck are you?" Kidd growled glaring at her.

"Now that's not very nice." she chuckled looking them over and her gaze stopped on Izumi.

"What do you want?" Kidd asked crossing his arms.

"Akita? Is that really you?" Izumi asked surprised, staring at the woman.

"So you still remember me, huh Izzy?" she asked with a smirk and the rifle in her hand turned into a purple smoke, disappearing.

"I've missed you." Izumi grinned and jumped in Akita's arms.

"I've missed you too kitten." she hugged her back as the others watched surprised, not really expecting the two to know each other.

"Is this gonna happen on every island?" Heat whispered to Wire amused.

"Hope not." he whispered back.

"You look amazing." Akita smirked twirling her around after they broke the hug.

"You too. But you never stopped looking like a guy I see." Izumi chuckled.

"You really turned into a fine woman." she said ignoring her comment and pulled her closer. To everyone's shock, she leaned down and stole a kiss from Izumi.

"What the fuck?!" Kidd yelled annoyed, ready to chop her up as were the others for assaulting Izumi.

"Akita." Izumi growled and slapped her.

"Haha. Feisty. I'm glad to see you again." she grinned, rubbing her cheek.

"Relax. I wont do it again." she said holding her arms up in surrender.

"Who the fuck are you and how do you two know each other?" Kidd asked again as they walked closer to the two.

"We met when were were kids. We became pretty close." Izumi said grinning. They could see she was really happy to meet this woman so they dropped the idea to kill her.

"My name is Silvers Akita." she said smiling at them as they introduced themselves as well.

"I've heard a fair bit about you lot. Noting too pretty, but as long as you take good care of my little kitten then there should be no problem." Akita said, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"What was that weird power just then? Your gun turned to smoke." Killer asked curiously.

"Devil Fruit. The purple smoke is the gate to a pocket dimension that I have control over. I can put anything in it and summon them from there. Most of my stuff lives there so I wont have to be scared of leaving something behind." she explained.

"That's still so cool." Izumi grinned.

"Come. I want to catch up." Akita grinned and pulled them away to a bar.

They sat down at a big enough table in a good looking little bar and ordered some drinks.

"So, what do you do now? Last time you were aiming to be a spy." Izumi asked looking at Akita.

"I scratched that idea. Well . . . sort of. I still like to know what's going on but I haven't pursued anything serious. I'm actually a seamstress. I make my own clothes and sell them. People love my style so my shop is doing pretty great actually." she said with a grin.

"That's awesome. I'd like to see some of your stuff if you don't mind." Izumi grinned.

"Not at all. I'll show you later then. As you saw, I'm also a sniper. I was taught by some of dad's good friends." Akita grinned.

"You any good?" Kidd asked curiously.

"Yasopp of the Red Hair Pirates taught me how to shoot. I think I know what I'm doing." she chuckled shocking them.

"That's awesome." Izumi grinned recognising the name.

"What about you though?" she asked looking back atIzumi.

"I'm a tattooist and writer. I had enough practice from Silvia so I'm pretty much set." Izumi replied happily.

"Yeah. She's fucking awesome. Done some of mine." Jin grinned showing Akita the tattoo she did.

"Looks great. You're really talented kitten." Akita grinned impressed.

"What made you join the Kidd Pirates then?" she asked.

"I started travelling a year ago, mostly on Sea Kings I bullied into helping , but never managed to get out of the Calm Belt that often. And one day I just bumped into them. Kidd asked me to join so I did. I had my brother with me . . . but he recently died." she said and looked down at the last part.

"Chin up. Boobs out. Walk proud. Life is too short for negativity." Akita said with a wink, surprising them but it only made Izumi and Kidd grin at her. Despite her shaky introduction, he started to take a liking to her attitude and he could tell the others liked her too.

"You're right." Izumi smiled.

"How's your dad anyway? I haven't seen him in a while either." she asked.

"Oh you know. He's holding up. Still owns the blacksmith shop and working everyday. So nothing to worry about." Akita replied amused.

"We need to get some weapon's fixed. He might be able to do it." Izumi said looking at Killer.

"Sure. I'll take you to him in a bit. He will be able to fix anything you have." she nodded.

"Oh by the way Izzy. Getting back to the spy thing. I found out a few things about you and the Tama's." she said clicking her fingers as she remembered.

"Really? What?" she asked curiously.

"I was curious so I've done some digging." she smirked, catching all their attention.

"I found some books on the Tama's training methods. I unfortunately managed to loose them but I remember everything in it so I can help you with a few things if you want. The log pose wont set for two weeks anyway." Akita said grinning.

"That is exactly what I need. How did you find them?" Izumi asked happily.

"Dad goes to a lot of islands to deliver orders so I usually go with him. On our travels I do my research. You'd be surprised what people know." she said smirking.

"But isn't the Tama Tribe something similar to the Ohara incident?" Izumi asked.

"It is. I had to work my magic a little to get the info, but it was fun. I even got to blackmail Sengoku for information." Akita chuckled shocking them.

"How the hell did you get away with that?" Killer asked surprised.

"What were you even doing near him?" Kidd asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"We were delivering some swords to Marineford. I wandered off and witnessed something quite interesting. I was able to use that to my advantage and got what I wanted." she smirked.

"Why didn't they just kill you?" Jake asked shocked.

"They know that I'm curious and will find out what I want no matter what. But also that I only want to know it. I don't use it for anything. They kept a watch on me ever since but can't arrest me because I'm innocent." she grinned.

"You are far from innocent Aki. You are many things but innocent is definitely not one of them." a guy said amused as he walked up to them.

"Hey Cody. I can pretend, can't I?" she asked amused, turning to a guy with short black hair and crystal blue eyes. He wore quite dark but casual clothes.

"If you want." he chuckled and walked off to the bar.

"Got business?" Akita asked as he just nodded and they left him be.

"Friend of yours?" Izumi asked.

"Yup. Anyway. I found some stuff on your history." she said turning back to her.

"I'm listening." Izumi smiled. To be fair they all wanted to know more about them, not just Izumi.

"Let's see. They used to worship a deity called Attora, he was a giant blue tiger that was supposedly the guardian deity of the Tama and lent his strength to them. The Tamas that were born tigers were also looked up to because of him." she explained smiling at her.

"They were a warrior clan, needless to say they were some powerful people, being able to shift into a big cat and control fire. The last King; Axel also your father by what I could gather, was great friends with the Pirate King, Gold Roger and my uncle Silvers Rayleigh." she said.

"I knew that name was familiar. Just who are you?" Kidd asked looking at her.

"My mother was the younger sister of the Dark King and since she died when I was born, dad wanted me to take her name." she said with a shrug.

"Back to Axel, after Roger was executed, the Government used the fact they were friends and had the tribe wiped out." she said.

"That's a shit reason." Izumi said glaring at the table.

"I know. They aren't the greatest and no matter how much they want to call it justice, it just wont cut it really." Akita said in a bored tone.

"But you know, not all Marines are bad. One saved your life." she said looking at Izumi with a smile.

"Yeah. Gramps Garp." she grinned.

"Haha. Nope." Akita chuckled, making her frown.

"It wasn't he who saved you, he just looked after you after the man died." she said.

"You know who it was? Tell me." Izumi said in a desperate tone.

"How do you even know all this?" Killer asked amazed.

"Been blackmailing people and using my spying skills. Also I know a few people that know people that . . . I've got connections, so gathering info is not that hard." she smirked.

"Who was it?" Izumi asked again.

"But Izzy, you know the man. He raised you for the first four years of your life." Akita said chuckling.

"Don't tell me you forgot about your 'father'? You two were inseparable. Come on, rack your brain a little." she chuckled as Izumi thought about it. She then got a shocked look on her face as realisation dawned on her.

"I remember. He was the closest person to family I ever had. But he just disappeared. What's up with people just disappearing?" she asked frowning.

"The has been some amazing people in my early life. But after disappearing; the pain, sorrow and the darkness that overtook my life pushed those memories into the shadows." she said with a sad voice, looking at the table.

"It can only get better from now on." Akita smiled.

"The man was Donquixote Rosinante. He was a young Marine but he knew what he was doing. He thought a baby had no evil within and shouldn't be punished for sins she did not commit. So he took you away and raised you on Ruby Lagoon, right up until he had to go on a mission to try and stop his evil older brother Doflamingo. He went incognito to North Blue and became the new Corazon in his crew. In the process he met a little boy from Flevance. He had amber lead syndrome and was due to die in a short while. He decided to leave the crew and abandon his mission to save the child's life. A devil fruit saved him but Rosinante died by the hands of his own brother." she explained smiling,.

"How the fuck do you know so much?" Kidd asked wide eyed.

"I have my ways." she winked with a smirk.

"In the end, Rosinante saved the lives of two young ones who ironically both became pirates, but he was father to you both." she said chuckling.

"Who is that other child?" Izumi asked.

"Trafalgar Law. I'm only telling you this because I know Rosinante was an important person to you and you share the love for him with Trafalgar." Akita said leaning back in her chair as she watched Izumi.

"The Surgeon of Death." Killer said recognising the name.

"Captain of the Heart Pirates. He has quite the sum on his head." Kidd said in thought.

"I remember Rosinante. He was always so loving and careful with me. Blond hair and warm orange eyes. He was always smiling." Izumi smiled as she remembered him.

"You alright?" Kidd asked looking at her a little worried. So many people once family, now either dead or just a jackass who left a hole in Izumi's past.

"I'm good." she smiled at him.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"I also got some stuff about a Tama's nature. They're not so submissive, so how did you take Kidd's dominance? No offence, you look like you don't take anyone's bullshit." Akita said looking at Izumi and Kidd.

"Oh, he bit my throat while I was in my tiger form." Izumi replied smiling.

"Oh boy." Akita chuckled.

"What? Isn't that what he was supposed to do? Animals show their dominance that way. And he proved his alpha status." Izumi said confused.

"You're not an animal Izzy, nor are you a human. It works differently for you." she chuckled with a smirk.

"What you did, Mr Captain was by biting her on the throat, human or tiger, you imprinted on her and made her your mate. It automatically makes you the alpha like that but what you should have done is bite her on the ear." Akita explained tugging Izumi's ear lightly as they went wide eyed and looked at each other blushing a little.

"Shit." they both said.

"Haha. Well it's done now. Nothing can be changed. I'm just sad I couldn't get you to myself." she said smirking at Izumi as she stroked her cheek while resting her head on her palm and elbow on the table.

"What's up with you? What was that kiss earlier as well. Not cool." Izumi frowned.

"I'm bisexual." Akita said with a shrug, surprising them again.

"You are full of surprises woman." Kidd groaned.

"Stay away from Iz." he glared at her.

"Haha. I can't promise anything. But she is like a little sister to me so I don't think you have too much to worry about." she chuckled.

"How old are you anyway?" Killer asked.

"26." she replied with a smile.

"I'd love to hear about your adventures and get to know you but you need a new weapon and I'm sure dad would love to see you again." Akita said standing up.

"Yo, Aki. Don't forget tomorrow night." Cody called to her as they were leaving.

"I won't." she called back and they left.

"What was that about?" Izumi asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. This way." she just smirked and led them through the streets.

"Oh by the way. We went to Ruby a year ago, apparently I missed you by a day." she said chuckling.  
"No way." Izumi frowned.

"We're here now." Akita smirked and pulled her into a one armed hug.

They turned the corner and she led them into a very big shop with all sorts of weapons on display.

"Hey old man, I've got some customers who would like to see you." Akita called and a pretty tall man stepped into the room from the back. He was pretty muscly with long purple dreadlocks that reached down to his lower back and were tied back, blue eyes and a little goatee. He wore a black jumpsuit that he tied down at his hips and a dark grey t-shirt.

He smiled at them and stepped behind the counter, gesturing for them to move closer.

"Hey Milo. Remember me?" Izumi smiled as she walked up to him.

He grinned and walked around the counter to pull her into a hug.

"Excuse his silence. About three years ago his voice box was damaged and he went mute." Akita explained as her father tapped the long scar on his neck.

"I hope it's alright." Izumi said frowning but he just waved her off with a grin.

"This is Milo, my father." Akita said.

"What do you need done?" she asked and Killer pulled out the broken blade and he showed him the weapon.

"Wow. What happened that you broke it? It's made of such a strong metal?" Akita asked as she read her father's sign language.

"I was sparring with Zum and she broke it." Killer said chuckling.

"I'm sorry. I kinda just got it stuck in the floor and kicked it." she said with a shrug.

"He'll get it fixed no problem. Will have to make it from scratch seeing that it's made of a rare metal but he will be able to get the right materials for it and have it done by next week." Akita said crossing her arms grinning.

"Perfect. Thank you." Killer grinned and they looked around the shop while they discussed price.

"Anything you like the look of?" Akita asked from beside Izumi.

"I don't fight with a weapon so I don't want one, but they're pretty cool looking." she said smiling.

"Yup. All of them the old man made. So what's your fighting style?" she asked.

"Close combat, I've been training with Killer a lot and I have my fire as well." she replied.

"I'm not too great with close combat. I work best from afar with a gun in my hands." Akita chuckled.

"Let's go to my shop. I wanna show you my clothes." she grinned pulling her to the exit.

"Finally." Izumi grinned.

"I'm coming with." Kidd said glaring at Akita.

"You still don't like me?" she chuckled.

"Well you don't have to." she smirked and showed the way as Heat followed them as well.

She asked a few questions about them and they told her what they usually did hobby wise.

"Hey Kita?" Izumi asked looking at her as they finally arrived. It was only down the street.

"What is it?" she asked with a smile.

"You know a lot, why is it that the Marines haven't tried to kill you yet? I don't believe it's for the reason you said. You are the niece of the Dark King and with the info you hold, you are a pretty big threat to the World Government." she said as Akita chuckled.

"Smart girl. The reason is simple really. They can't touch me." she smirked.

"I'm engaged to a royal so they can't touch me at all." she said surprising them.

"You what?" Izumi asked.

"He proposed quite a few years ago to protect me. He's one of us, however bad his family may be. No we don't love each other but as you said, they would have killed me if it wasn't for him." she explained in a hushed tone so only they could hear.

"What are you going to do? Are you just gonna marry him and lay down submitting to his father?" Izumi quietly asked as they walked into the shop and Akita waved the young girl away that was working there and waited until she was gone to speak again.

"Pfft, like hell I will. The marriage will be in two weeks. But I have no desire to be tied down like that. As much as I owe him, we both know that we can't marry and besides we have a plan to take down the royal family." she smirked leaning on the counter.

"There are things going on in this country that are more serious and life threatening than you think Izzy. I'm neck deep in all of Amerosa's affairs, but hopefully that will only last until two weeks time. Then I'll finally be free." she smiled.

"Let me help you." Izumi suddenly said surprising everyone.

"I want to help. You helped me back then so I want to help you now." she said determined.

"What about your captain? This isn't something you can just get involved in and get away unscathed." she said looking at Kidd.

"We're pirates. We do whatever the fuck we want." he said glaring at the tall woman.

"If it's one of our friends we need to help then we do it." he said surprising them.

"Thank you Kidd." Izumi grinned up at him and he returned it.

"Alright. In that case . . . take this." Akita said with a smirk, pulling something from her pocket.

"I will explain everything. Come here tomorrow night. There's a dress code so you need to wear white. I will be there and we'll get you involved. No turning back from that point on though." she said warning them and gave Kidd a map.

"Don't tell me what to fucking do. I dress as I please." Kidd growled at her.

"It's so you don't draw a lot of attention. This is serious business, if you want to help us you have to follow our rules." Akita said glaring at him.

"This seems very important. Let's just do what they say. No one ever choked by swallowing their pride." Izumi said.

"Fine." Kidd groaned after Izumi sent him a glare.

"Sweet. We may just be able to pull it off now." Akita grinned.

"Two of our commanders are a married couple and the wife is heavily pregnant. They left the island yesterday so they wouldn't have anything to do with it. Our leader sent them away so she could give birth in peace and raise it." she said with a happy sigh.

"Let me show you my stuff." grinning, Akita showed them around her shop and they had to admit that they liked her style, it was dark and punky, but also mostly casual.

"You can have whatever you like. Free of charge." Akita said with a wink.

"You sure?" Izumi asked surprised.

"Positive. That goes for you two as well, the men's section is over there." she said gesturing to the other side of the shop.

"Thanks." the two said walking off.

Akita watched them with a lazy smile as they picked out a few stuff that they liked and walked up to her.

"Is it really alright?" Izumi asked showing what she picked.

"Course. Anything for my little sister. I officially owe you if you help anyway." Akita said.

"Thanks." Heat grinned, happy with his findings.

"I have a few things to take care of now. So, I'll see you guys tomorrow." she said after she gave them bags to put their stuff in and they all left as she locked up.

Akita leaned down near Izumi's ear and whispered something to her, sending a smirk at Kidd.

"No." Izumi squealed embarrassed as she blushed, making her chuckle.

"Its only the afternoon, where do you have to be for so long anyway?" Izumi asked quickly going back to that.

"I got to gather some info." Akita simply replied and pulling out her cigarettes, lit one.

"You smoke? Since when?" Izumi asked surprised.

"Since I was 15. Relaxes me and I don't do it all the time so no big deal." she chuckled and shoving her hands in her pockets, walked off.

"I wonder what she's hiding?" Heat asked in thought as they made their way over to the docks.

"Akita was never a secretive person. I came to know her to be very laid back and easy going, she's curious and usually gets what she wants. She fought for me when I didn't even want it. I guess she ended up saving my life back then. She's a very loyal and stubborn person." Izumi said smiling.

"She looks it. I wonder what the whole ordeal is about." Kidd said in thought.

"Well, we'll find out tomorrow night." Izumi chuckled.

"How do you know her so well?" Heat asked curiously.

"I lived with her for a whole year when we were younger. Milo left her with us because he had a little trouble he needed to take care of. The man provides for both the Marines and Pirates alike, he is completely neutral but some people tried to kill him before." she explained.

They got back to the ship and had their late lunch that Jake left out for them.

They went back out to explore the city for a bit then wondered back for dinner. They found it interesting with a lot of different things to look at and do. They also saw Akita talking to people and later saw her shoot a pirate captain looking guy in the head. She only chuckled at the sight and made her gun disappear with the purple smoke. She seemed pretty laid back about it and just stepped over the body, walking off with a lazy smile on her face. Not many people seemed to react around her either, as if her actions were a usual occurrence. They later found out that she's the one to deal with the people that cheat his father in business. The guy Akita shot in the head stole some weapons from him.

Walking into Kidd's workshop after him, Izumi closed the door and sat down beside him on his right. She rested her head on the table and watched him start on his work.

"Was what that sassy bitch said true?" Kidd asked glancing down at Izumi.

"Was what true? She said a lot of things." she asked smiling.

"The thing with the mate and the bite to your neck." he said looking her in the eyes as she blushed and sat up straight.

"Uh, I think so." she said looking at her lap.

"But . . . that's not the only reason I like you. I like you because you're cool, determined, stubborn and you fight for your friends and what you believe in. I admire that about you. You're one of the most amazing humans I ever met." Izumi said quickly explaining it. She unconsciously admitted that she liked him, making him smirk.

"Is that so?" he chuckled, finding her blushing face cute.

She only nodded and looked back up at him.

"Well I like you too." he said moving a little closer, he turned to face her and rested his left arm on the table beside her as his right arm was on the back of her chair.

"I honestly never met a woman that caught my attention more than you did." he said staring into her yellow eyes as she wasn't able to break her gaze either. She loved his orange eyes that burned with his ambition.

She suddenly remembered what Akita had whispered to her before and she blushed again.

'I can tell you two like each other a lot. You're a proud Tama, make him yours. A kiss would do it just fine for starters.' Akita had said amused.

Izumi glanced down at Kidd's purple painted lips. They were thin but she loved the smirk pulling on them. He was always so confident and she thought that only made him more attractive in her eyes.

With a boost of confidence and her own smirk, she leaned closer to him, closing the gap between them and brushed her lips against his. It surprised Kidd at first and made her pull back from embarrassment, she hasn't kissed anyone before and she really didn't know what she was doing. Before she could run, Kidd wrapped an arm around her and pulled her onto his lap, crashing his lips onto hers and kissed her fully. She kissed back as best she could and she could feel him grin into the kiss.

"You taste like chocolate." he commented chuckling as they broke apart.

"I just ate some before I came here." she said blushing.

"You look hot as hell." he smirked whispering in her ear.

"What is this feeling?" she asked clenching her shirt. Kidd gave her curious look, he knew she didn't have much experience and was struggling with her emotions so he was quite interested in what was going on inside her.

"My heart is pounding and my stomach feels weird. I fell hot and I want to kiss you more." she said quietly, hiding her face in his chest.

"Isn't that a normal reaction to someone you like?" he asked amused and pulled her body closer in a hug.

"I guess so." she smiled and leaned up. With a mischievous smirk, she bit his neck, surprising him.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a hiss.

"It's not fair that you're the only one to bite me." she said looking him in the eyes.

He didn't reply, just kissed her again. She was better at it this time and he enjoyed the feel of her soft lips moving against his as he got lost in the kiss they shared.

They broke apart as Izumi heard something and her ears twitched.

"What is it?" Kidd asked looking at her.

"I think we're not alone." she whispered to him and got up to walk to the door quietly.

She opened it and three guys fell in the room from leaning on the door.

"We can explain." Heat said panicking as he, Killer and Wire shot up.

"What are you morons doing now?" Kidd asked raising an eyebrow. He wasn't that angry, he was still happy from the kiss with Izumi. She on the other hand was quite annoyed that the three of them heard what happened.

"You're finally together." Killer said grinning under his mask.

"Congrats." Wire cheered.

"Get out." Izumi growled and they quickly scurried away with apologies.

"Don't mind them. They were always curious." Kidd chuckled and hugged her from behind after he got up.

"But I still don't appreciate eavesdropping." she said holding his arms and looked up at him.

"Well, now they know that you're mine." he smirked and stole a chaste kiss, making her blush and nod with a smile.

. . .

In the morning, Izumi got on with her usual routine as she snuck away before Kidd woke.

She blushed as she bumped into Kidd, remembering the events the day before. He just smirked and leaned down to kiss her. He was happy he could call her his now and she also liked it that Kidd was so possessive of her. She liked his dominant nature and the way he acted around her.

After breakfast, they headed back to the city to explore. It didn't take them long to run into Akita.

And yet again they saw her shoot someone in the head.

"What did she do?" Izumi asked walking up to the white haired sniper.

"Cheated on my best friend." she said nonchalantly and lit a cigarette.

"Was that a reason to kill her?" Heat asked frowning.

"I don't care for reasoning. Someone upsets me they die. Simple, get used to it." she shrugged and then hugged Izumi with a grin. She looked a little stressed despite that though.

"Did you sleep well Izzy?" Akita hummed happily.

"I did. What about you?" she asked back smiling.

"I didn't sleep last night. Had something to take care of." she shrugged.

Akita helped them get the supplies they wanted and showed them around properly.

"I'll see you later then. I hope you'll find it with no problem." Akita grinned. It was well into the afternoon now and they were headed back to the ship to get ready for this meeting she asked them to attend.

"See you later." Izumi grinned and they walked on board.

"Do you have any white clothes guys?" she asked looking at Kidd and Killer who planned to go.

"I think so." Killer said in thought.

"Then get ready. We're going after dinner." Kidd said with a determined grin.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Izumi put on a white body hugging tank top with white skinny jeans and high top converse according to dress code.

She met up with Kidd and Killer on deck and watched amused as the two were in full white as well. Killer was in white jeans and a white dress shirt with his normal shoes on. Kidd was in a white version of his usual trousers and it looked like Killer lent him a white dress shirt as well, that he undid the 3 top buttons for and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows. She noted how great he looked in it, she rarely has the chance to see him like this so she took the opportunity to look.

"Ready?" Kidd asked as the sun was setting.

"Let's go." Izumi grinned after Kidd handed Killer the map they were given.

Leaving the docks, they headed out of town into the nearby forest. The little map lead them to the side of a mountain and into a cave. They found a door at the end of it and with curious expressions opened it. They saw purple smoke as they entered. It opened into a giant ball room with a giant chandelier on the ceiling, a fair sized stage opposite them with a drum kit and 3 guitars, microphones and speakers, to their left was a bar. A lot of people dressed in white were bustling around and talking.

They spotted about five people that were in black rather than the white that was required. All of them either wore a half mask or face paint so they couldn't be recognised.

The first one they spotted was a woman with average height but had nice curves with long wavy red hair that reached down to her butt. They could see her green eyes through the fox mask she was wearing, along with a nice body hugging black dress with no straps and it reached down to her mid thigh with heels.

The second one was a pretty tall guy with black spiky hair and crystal clue eyes. He wore a crow mask and a black suit, only he was missing the jacket and the tie.

Next was another woman with mid length dark blue hair with the top half tied up and orange eyes. She wore a koala mask and black high waist shorts, black baggy t-shirt that tucked into the shorts with mid thigh length stockings and ankle boots.

There was a very tall and toned guy with short and messy sandy blond hair and red eyes. He wore a bear's mask, black jeans and a t-shirt with black army boots and fingerless gloves.

The last one they spotted was a tall female with mid length choppy orange hair and purple eyes. She wore a clown's make up that consisted of white face paint, black lips that pulled into thin lines going towards her ears but stopped at the middle of her cheeks, black painted nose, black feminine make up around the eyes, a line that was drawn from the middle of each eye to her hairline, there was also a diamond shape on the middle of her forehead with two smaller ones on each side. She wore a black corset with a plaid skirt, and a long sleeved blouse with a long collar that zipped up to the top of her throat and curled out, the shoulders were puffy and so were the ends of the sleeves that ended at her wrist and a ruffled bit came over her fingers. She had black and white striped tights and black ankle boots on, looking like a marionette or a clown.

The guy with the crow mask approached them and smiled under his mask.

"Go and see Clown, she's the one you're looking for." he said and they recognised his voice to be Cody's; Akita's friend they met briefly the other day in that bar.

"Thanks." Izumi smiled and they walked up to the clown.

"Izzy. You're finally here. Were you able to follow the map correctly?" Clown asked as they realised it was Akita. She must have been wearing a wig to hide her identity.

"We did." Killer nodded.

"So what's this all about?" Kidd asked gesturing around them.

"We'll explain everything in a bit at the meeting. Just enjoy yourselves and have a little fun in the meantime." she smirked and winked at them, walking off.

"Well okay then." Killer commented slightly amused.

"Drinks?" Kidd asked as they nodded and walked up to the bar. They ordered and conversed a little, trying to figure out what was going on. That is until the five black clothed ones walked up on stage and everyone seemed to quiet down and look at them. Clown took the lead guitar, Beast stood in front of the microphone, Crow was on drums, Koala was the bassist and Fox was the rhythmic guitarist.

[I hope you're enjoying yourselves tonight.] Beast said earning a cheer.

[I'm sure you all know the importance of what we're trying to achieve here. But before we turn serious, let's have a little fun, shall we?] he asked grinning and the crowd cheered louder.

They started playing a song and Kidd, Killer and Izumi was surprised how dark and heavy it sounded. They loved it. (Critical Acclaim by Avenged Sevenfold.)

 _Verse 1_

[Shh! Quiet, you might piss somebody off!] Clown whispered into the microphone that was in front of her in a menacing way.

[Like me, motherfucker, you've been at it for too long!

While you feed off others insecurities,

You stand in front of me and bite the hand that feeds!] Beast sang with a deep and loud voice that fit the style of music perfectly.

 _Pre-chorus 1_

[Self-righteousness is wearing thin.] Beast sung.

[(Lies inside your head, your best friend.)] Koala sung as back up. She had a good voice as well but not as good as Izumi's.

[Heart bleeds but not for fellow men.] Beast sung.

[(Broken glass, your fake reflection.)] Koala sang.

 _Chorus_

[I've had enough, it's time for something real.

Don't respect the words you're speaking.

Gone too far, a clone.] Clown sang. She had a very unique and low voice that was borderline male sounding but not quite as it was a touch feminine.

 _Spoken words_

[So, how does it feel to know that,

Someone's kid in the heart of Amerosa has blood on their hands,

Fighting to defend your rights so you can maintain the lifestyle,

That insults his family's existence?

Well, where I'm from we have a special salute.

We aim high in the air towards all those pompus assholes,

Who spend their days pointing fingers!] Clown practically yelled the spoken words in anger.

[Fuck you!] Beast yelled, drawing out the words.

 _Verse 4_

[Shh! Quiet, you might piss somebody off!] Clown whispered.

[Like the heartbeat of this county when antagonized too long.

I'll be damned if you count me in as part of your,

Generous hypocrisy, collecting enemies!] Beast sang.

 _Pre-chorus 2_

[Tabloid gossip queen, worthless man.] Beast sang.

[(There's no need for us to bury you.)] Koala sang back up.

[Selfish agenda once again.] Beast sang.

[(Right this way, you dug your own grave.)] Koala sang.

 _Chorus_

[I've had enough, it's time for something real.

Don't respect the words you're speaking.

Gone too far, a clone.] Clown sang.

 _Spoken words_

[All the way from the east to the west,

We got this high society looking down on their very foundation.

Constantly reminding us that our actions,

Are the cause of all their problems.

Pointing their fingers in every direction,

Blaming their own nation for who wins elections.

They never contributed a fucking thing,

To the country they love to criticize!] Clown yelled the spoken words angrily.

 _Bridge_

[Excuse the obscene, ignore the untrue.

Deceptions we see, try and get through.

And many mistakes can hurt.

I'm not the last but I sure ain't the first.] Beast sang.

 _Clown's awesome guitar solo._

 _Pre-chorus 1_

[Self-righteousness is wearing thin.] Beast sang.

[(Lies inside your head, your best friend.)] Koala sang back up.

[Heart bleeds but not for fellow men.] Beast sang.

[(Broken glass, your fake reflection.)] Koala sang.

 _Chorus_

[I've had enough, it's time for something real.

Don't respect the words you're speaking.

Gone too far, a clone.] Clown finished as the crowd erupted in cheers.

"Holy shit. That was amazing." Izumi grinned in awe.

"Yeah. That was fucking awesome." Kidd said with his own grin.

[I hope that you enjoy the rest of the evening. We have the plans to discuss and will send out the orders after.] Beast said and they walked off stage.

Clown walked up to them with a smirk on her lips.

"So. Did you like it?" she asked with her hands on her hips.

"Loved it. You're seriously amazing." Izumi beamed happily.

"Thank you. Now come along. We have a lot to discuss." she smirked and lead them to a meeting room with a giant rectangular table and several chairs around it, with a giant map of the island at the head of the table, on the wall. The door was closed and they made sure no one was eavesdropping on their meeting.

"The Kidd Pirates." Clown simply said as they all sat down with Beast at the head of the table and Clown beside him.

"Welcome. Clown has already told me that you want to help us. I appreciate that, thank you." Beast said with a smile.

"So what is it that we're helping with anyway?" Kidd asked looking at Beast. He was obviously the leader.

"Ah. We'll explain that in a minute. Are you certain that we can trust these pirates Clown?" he asked glancing over at her.

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have invited them." she said sending him an unamused look.

"Alright, in that case I think we should introduce ourself first. I'm the leader of this operation, code name Beast. My real name is Blaise. I'm a tactician with a Devil Fruit that gives me the ability of speed." he said crossing his arms.

"I'm second in command; Clown. You know me as Akita though. I'm a sniper and I can use Observation Haki." she said smirking.

"I'm known as Crow but my real name is Cody. I'm a con-artist and I wield twin swords." he said with a smile.

"They call me Koala but my name is Ren. I'm a doctor and I specialise in poisons and kung fu." she said with a half smile.

"I'm Fox, but casually just Amber. I'm an assassin." she said with a playful smirk.

"The name's Eustass Kidd. Captain of the Kidd Pirates and I have a Devil Fruit that gives me magnetic powers." he said seeing as everyone was introducing themselves and saying what they do.

"Killer, first mate. I work with spinning scythes and close combat." he said nodding.

"My name's Izumi. I'm a Tama." she simply said with a smile and surprised most of them as Blaise looked at Akita.

"So she's the sister you don't shut up about? I understand why they're here now." Blaise chuckled.

"Let's get down to business. I think it's best if I explain the island's situation before anything else." Akita said with a surprisingly serious tone.

"Go ahead." Blaise nodded.

"Our island; Amerosa is ruled by the royal family, who are situated in the capital; Vioris. The capital has very strict rules that the Marines enforce on the citizens. They demand absolute control and power. The rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. For quite a few decades this kingdom has suffered under the rule of the royals and their greedy, selfish ways. If I had to say, the only safe place for pirates is the Port City where you docked. The Marines rarely come here as there are so many rebels and pirates abound. You were just unlucky, or rather they were, seeing as you wiped out their forces in five minutes." Akita explained and chuckled at the end making Kidd grin proudly.

"People call us several things. From anarchy to a rebel army." she said smirking.

"There was always a fool who tried to rebel against them. We started this ten years ago. The aim is to take down the royal family and rid the island of their crooked rule." Blaise explained.

"We stopped with the violent approach five years ago. It was pretty pointless in a way. The family is heavily protected by the World Government. Luckily they aren't that smart and we got a good amount of info on them. Several of us commanders are worked into the family and work from the inside." he said.

"We tried to take them down in a more peaceful way. Exposing their illegal business and even tried to frame them but nothing seemed to work and they gave up on the population's love. They rule with an iron fist. It's either you do it or you die." Akita said crossing her arms.

"Hate people like that." Izumi grumbled quietly as both Killer and Kidd agreed with her.

"Using our assets we managed to work our way in and they don't even suspect anything." Blaise said gesturing for the others to explain.

"I took work in the capital as a stripper and became the King's mistress. He is one of the most selfish and narcissistic men that I've ever met. He has little regard for a human life that isn't royal blood." Amber aka Fox said.

"I got work in the palace as the Queen's personal masseur. She's a bit of a pushover as she does everything the King says without question. She likes the comfort and turns her eyes from anything she doesn't like." Ren aka Koala said.

"I'm the Princess' drama teacher. She's interested in the arts and she's a two faced fiend. She shows this innocent good behaved little girl while her true colours lie in manipulating people. She is a slut and a full blown lesbian." he said non too fondly.

"Yeah, she's as straight as a wheel. I had my fun with her that one drunken night, I'm sure she remembers it, she initiated the whole thing while I was already her brother's fiancée." Akita chuckled amusing them.

"As for me, I never really got all that involved with them." Blaise said in a bored tone.

"As I have told you before; I'm engaged to the Prince. He is one of us. Realised his family's evil ways and saw the people suffering. He sought us out and offered his help. We got a good intel from him as well." Akita explained.

"We couldn't act properly until now as the family members are never together at the same time or place. The wedding is the only chance we get." Blaise explained stressing that fact.

"The prince proposed to me to protect me from the government and the King only allowed it because of my background and the fact he thinks he can control me and get to my uncle through me. Of course that won't happen and we do not love each other." Akita explained.

Before anyone could say anything else a knock came from the door. Blaise called an 'enter' and a tall guy with short light blond hair and blue eyes walked in. He was wearing a black suit and looked elegant and graceful.

"Prince. About time you joined us." Blaise called with a grin as this guy walked up to him and handed him some files.

"Sorry I was late. Mother was nagging me about the wedding again." he said with an amused smirk.

"And these are?" Blaise asked looking at them.

"Father hired a few Cipher Pol agents to be on duty at the wedding. I got their files." he said and glanced at the pirates.

"Calm down Alois. They're here to help." Akita chuckled and he just nodded, sitting down in an empty chair.

"Thank you for the files." Blaise said looking through them.

"Alright. The commanders will deal with the CP agents and the royals. The pirates will take out the Marines." he said handing the files he saw fit to assign to them.

"Let's get down to business now that we're all here and up to date with everything." he grinned.

"As you can see, Vioris is surrounded by six fort's circling it. They are control bases that are connected to the walls that can be pulled up around the capital in case of an emergency." he explained gesturing to the map.

"Eustass, you will be responsible for dealing with these. They are here . . . here . . . here . . . here . . . here . . . and here." he said pointing them out.

"We will have our people run the capital as you raise the walls so none of the nobles could get out. There is also the Marine base that is located here . . . wipe them out." he said pointing to the base west of the city.

"Got it. We'll split up in groups and target the forts and base." Killer nodded as Kidd tried not to snarl at him for ordering him around but Izumi managed to keep him calm.

"We have the files for every noble that has committed a crime or deserves to die. Our forces will be handed these files to make sure that everything gets done efficiently and fast. I don't want any mistakes or innocent blood on our hands." Blaise said and they realised just how serous and determined they were.

"How did we end up in the middle of a civil war?" Killer asked looking at Kidd.

He in return simply placed his hand on Izumi's head.

"Of course it's Zum. Why did I even ask?" he chuckled amused.

"I don't get in trouble all the time." she pouted.

"That's questionable at best." Kidd chuckled giving her a look. They thought the song they preformed earlier made a lot of sense now.

"It's crucial that we make no mistake. It would be fatal." Blaise stressed that fact.

"The wedding will be in the late afternoon. I want everyone to be in the capital by morning. Get close to the church and move in under the CP agents' noses. All of the royal family will be in one place in that moment, so lock all the exits. Make your move before we say our vows. Take the agents out then take the royals." Akita said.

"Wow. Massacre in a church? I never thought you were so deranged to commit such acts in a holy place. Not that I care for religion or anything, it's just amusing." Izumi chuckled looking at Akita.

"You're no better." she smirked back at her.

"Your moral boundaries are almost non existent Clown." Blaise chuckled at her as she just shrugged.

"They were never properly intact from the beginning." she smirked.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

"Wow. Massacre in a church? I never thought you were so deranged to commit such acts in a holy place. Not that I care for religion or anything, it's just amusing." Izumi chuckled looking at Akita.

"You're no better." she smirked back at her.

"Your moral boundaries are almost non existent Clown." Blaise chuckled at her as she just shrugged.

"They were never properly intact from the beginning." she smirked.

Izumi's right ear twitched and she looked to the door curiously.

"What's up?" Kidd asked noticing her focus shifting from the vice leader and leader of the anarchy.

Without a word, she stood up and tip-toed over to the door. She pulled it open and stared the girl crouched before it in the eyes.

"What are you doing?" Izumi asked tilting her head to the right. The girl was short and thin with short black hair and big brown eyes. She was in all black and there was a Tone Dial in her hands.

The commanders noticed Izumi and the new girl. Noticing what she was holding, they all stood up and she ran for it, disappearing into the crowd. They all moved outside of the meeting room and calmly looked at the people gathered.

"Clown." Beast called as she stepped up. Summoning a sniper, she pointed it into the crowd with a smirk on her face and took aim. With a single shot, she hit her target and some of the people screamed in surprise. They moved aside so the girl could be seen and everyone was dead quiet, looking at the commanders. The girl was on the floor face down with her head bleeding a growing puddle under her. Head shot. Instant death.

Clown calmly rested the sniper on her shoulder and walked up to the dead body. She picked up the Tone Dial and lobbed it back to Beast. He played a small portion of it and as they thought, it was of their meeting. With a deep frown he stepped up and faced the crowd.

"Don't fuck with me!" he suddenly yelled making everyone shrink back or jump from the sudden shout.

"Betrayal will not be tolerated here! We've been working towards this goal for 10 years now! We are two weeks away from landing the final blow and finishing everything off! Understand the importance of our plans and secrecy this organisation upholds! Don't let this happen again!" he yelled angrily as some people took a couple of steps back in fear. He was a pretty intimidating guy if he wanted to be.

Clown walked up to him casually and rested her left hand on his shoulder.

"In two weeks time there will be a wedding. The whole of the royal family will be gathered in one place and we will use that precious opportunity to strike." she said looking over at them all.

"The commanders will be the ones to take care of them. The Kidd Pirates joined us and they will be the ones to take out the Marines on the outskirts and the base. We want every one of you in the capital by noon. After they kill everyone, the walls will be raised and the nobles will be trapped. We have the files of every single citizen in Vioris. Handing out the files, you will be the ones to take care of your individual targets. Kill all of them and leave the rest." she explained as Koala brought out the files on a trolley. They handed the files out as everyone smirked at their targets.

"You are here to kill. We expect you to do everything in your power to accomplish your missions successfully. We will bring down the monarchy!" Beast yelled and everyone cheered.

"Clean the mess up then go home. In the two weeks we have left, get ready for the final showdown." Clown said making her sniper disappear.

"Dismissed!" Beast yelled and walked back into the meeting room with the rest of the commanders and Kidd Pirates.

"Well that was interesting." Izumi commented amused.

"Sure was." Kidd agreed.

"We will see you around. Do not mention anything about this outside of this room and lay low. Stick to the plan and do not fail." Beast warned.

"Don't threaten me." Kidd growled.

"Hey, hey. We got it. Let's go Kidd." Izumi said pulling at his arm, trying to keep him calm.

He nodded eventually and they left. Killer managed to get them back to town and from behind a building, Akita walked out with a lazy smile and waved at them. She was in her normal clothes, no traces of the clown costume she was wearing at the meeting.

"Kita. Hey. You changed pretty quickly." Izumi said smiling at her.

"Changed? What are you talking about?" she asked smiling innocently.

"Never mind." Izumi waved it off, remembering that the commanders' identities are a secret.

"So, you're heading back to your ship? It is quite late now." Akita said walking with them.

"Nice outfits by the way." she chuckled with an amused gleam in her eyes.

"Shut it bitch. You made us wear it." Kidd frowned crossing his arms.

"Haha. You should wear it more often. The blood would stand out more that way." she said grinning.

"You were awesome with that guitar Akita." Killer said smiling at her under his mask. He was pretty impressed by the commanders' performance.

"Thank you. I've been playing for a long time." she smiled at the blond.

"You're good at it." he said.

"Thanks." she grinned as they walked onto deck.

"I need to get out of these clothes. It's too pure of a colour, I can't stand it." Izumi mumbled as Kidd followed her below deck.

Killer didn't mind it so he just sat down against the railing with Akita for a chat.

"How long have you been playing?" Killer asked curiously.

"Since I was about 10 or 12. Blaise taught me after we became friends." Akita smiled, leaning back against the railing.

"How did you two meet then?" he asked.

"You ask a lot. Curious?" she smirked and winked at him.

"Maybe." Killer chuckled.

"Haha, fine. We actually met in a fight." she laughed and started to tell.

"I was exploring when this group of thugs attacked me. They thought I was a guy and tried to play big. I fought back but I was outnumbered and I was never that good at close combat. Blaise saw and he jumped in. He helped me out and even treated my wounds. He said it was on impulse and since then we've been best friends." she explained.

"I see. So you've been trouble since you were young huh?" he chuckled.

"Yup. Been following me through life like a shadow." she chuckled.

"Not much different than any of us on this ship. Kidd and Zum had been getting into nothing but trouble since they met." Killer said amused.

"Haha. She's been trouble since before I met her. She was always like that. Challenging things that can easily kill her. It's in her nature." Akita laughed.

Just then Kidd and Izumi walked back onto deck and joined the two.

"What'cha talking about?" Izumi asked grinning.

"You and how much trouble you are." Akita chuckled.

"Hey, I'm not that bad." Izumi pouted.

"You're in denial." Kidd laughed patting her head.

"Am not." she glared up at him as he only looked back amused.

"You guys have two weeks until the log pose sets. I hope you enjoy it here despite everything that's going on." Akita said smiling at them.

"I'm sure we will." Izumi smiled.

As the other three chatted happily, Izumi ached a little inside as she remembered Sid. It still hurt when she thought of him and she missed him so much. Looking up at the night sky, she hummed in thought.

"You alright?" Akita asked looking at the tigress.

"Yup." she smiled at her.

"So whereabouts do you live anyway?" Killer asked.

"What's up big boy? Fallen for me already?" Akita asked smirking at Killer.

"No, that's not it. I'm simply curious. You may be hot but you need some work on your attitude." he replied smirking under his mask.

"If you can't handle me don't even try buddy." she chuckled as Izumi and Kidd watched the two interact amused.

"Is that a challenge?" he asked smirking under his mask.

"Take it as you will." she said and winked at him.

"I wonder what could happen in the two weeks we're here." Izumi whispered to Kidd amused.

"We'll see." he whispered back with a grin.

"Anyway. I'll leave you guys to it. I need sleep and I can already hear my bed calling." Akita said as she stood up stretching her arms above her head.

"See you around." Izumi smiled at her.

"Of course." she smiled back and jumped onto the docks.

"She's an interesting one isn't she?" Kidd asked nudging Killer.

"If you say so." he replied and walked off below deck, making him laugh.  
"I think he likes her." Izumi smiled.

"Maybe. Killer likes the sarcastic sassy ones." Kidd grinned and pulled her into a warm hug.

"I would have never guessed." she chuckled enjoying his warmth.

He only hummed and broke the hug so he could lean down and press his lips against Izumi's, making her blush but kiss back.

. . .

The next day, Akita appeared at the Kidd Pirate's ship around noon.

"Izzy." she greeted her happily and pulled her into a hug as the crew was chilling on deck. Most of them were on cleaning duty again.

"Hiya. You sound like you just woke up." Izumi chuckled as she let her go.

"I just did. I came straight here after I changed." she grinned.

"Maybe you shouldn't pull all nighters then you'd wake up earlier." Izumi smirked.

"Don't get smart with me. Anyway I'm here to help you with training as I promised." Akita smiled.

"Thank you." Izumi grinned as Kidd, Killer, Heat and Wire walked up to them curiously.

"Alright. Show me what you got." she smiled and Izumi got in a fighting stance, her eyes burning with excitement.

"Not with me you idiot. With Killer or something. Go." Akita frowned and stepped away.

"Make up your mind." Izumi frowned and Killer stepped up to her.

"Usual sparring match?" he asked.

"Guess so." Izumi grinned and launched straight into an attack.

Crossing her arms and leaning against the railing, Akita watched every movement and every twitch of Izumi's muscles.

"Okay. I've seen enough." she suddenly called walking up to the two and shoved Killer out of the way, earning an annoyed grunt.

"You're holding back." she said.

"What? No, I'm not. I always fight with my full potential." Izumi said panting a little.

"That's what you think. Taking a guess; you've grown us suppressed. Not allowed to show what you are. Not allowed to use your powers. Not allowed to loose control. Not allowed to fight. Do I have to go on?" she listed with a sigh as Izumi just looked at the deck frowning.

"You unconsciously hold back because you're used to living that way. You weren't raised right so you cant use your full potential. I may be able to teach you how to do that." Akita said smiling at the young feline.

"You would." Izumi looked up at her with hope in her eyes.

"Yes. Now, first of all forget everything you know about fighting. Clear your mind. I want you to attack with pure instinct. It's in you. You know what to do, you just have to ignite the flame that's only a little flicker right now." she explained as Izumi nodded.

"Go again." Akita called and Killer walked back.

They went at it a couple of times as Akita made comments on it and helped her. It was a little slow as a lifetime of holding back is hard to just change but she was doing quite well. They were doing the same thing every day for the next week. Akita usually appeared at noon and then they started.

. . .

After breakfast, Kidd caught Izumi before she could run off somewhere and pulled her to her room.

"What the hell Kidd? What do you want?" she asked unamused, glaring up at him. He sent a glare back but sat down on her bed.

"I promised you I'd let you tattoo me. I'm here." he simply said.

"Finally." Izumi grinned and moved to get her equipment ready.

"So what do you want done? Do you have an idea of the design?" she asked glancing over at him.

"Yup. I want the simplified version if our Jolly Roger. You know the one that Wire has on his chest. Yeah, that and with some circuit lines coming from it and some cogs around it." Kidd explained smiling.

"Alright. Sounds good. I'll draw up a design for you. Where do you want it?" she asked happily.

"That's up to you. I don't really mind." he said with a shrug.

"Somewhere where you can show it off. You're the type of person that likes it flashy and standing out. So I suggest the chest. Right in the middle maybe, under your collarbones?" she suggested looking him over.

"Sounds good." he grinned.

"Awesome. I'll draw it up and we can start." she grinned and sat down to do just that.

Kidd waited patiently on her bed and it didn't take long for her to turn around with a piece of paper, grinning.

"Take a look." she smirked and handed the paper to him.

"Looks awesome. Just how I imagined it." he grinned.

"Good. Let's get started." she grinned back and traced the design.

She put it on his chest and sent him to the mirror to look at it before she started.

"It's gonna be awesome." he grinned and laid down on the bed as she pulled a pair of black gloves on.

"Yup. So just all black or do you want colours in it?" she asked.

"Keep the Jolly Roger black but anything else do with a dark red." he said.

"Got it." she smirked and got on with it.

All throughout her work, Izumi could feel her heart hammering and the warmth of Kidd's chest through her gloves. She didn't look up at him but could feel him watching her work, it made her blush but thankfully didn't effect her work.

"All done. Go look." Izumi ginned as she washed the excess ink off Kidd's chest and he sat up smiling.

"Thanks." he grinned and walked up to the mirror.

"Oh wow. It looks awesome." he said looking at his new tattoo in awe.

"Good. I'll clean up here then take a nap." Izumi said with a yawn and Kidd left happily in search of Killer to show him the new tattoo.

. . .

Akita was a little late to show up then usual. When she did arrive, the corner of her mouth was bruised and her left hand knuckles were bleeding.

"You got into a fight?" Izumi asked looking up from laying on deck in her tiger form.

"Yup. I'm here now though. Let's get started." she grinned.

"Heat." Izumi called nonchalantly and said doctor walked up to Akita.

"What do you want?" she asked glaring at him.

"Let me have a look at those." he said gesturing to her injuries.

"No." she glared back.

"It wasn't an option." he rolled his eyes and dragged her down to his infirmary.

"Why are you people so pushy?" Akita asked frowning.

"Can't deal with it, don't come here looking like that." he chuckled.

"It's not even that bad." she rolled her eyes this time.

"Let me see." he asked reaching for her hand and with a sigh, she let him treat her.

"Do you treat Izzy this gently too?" she asked watching him work.

"Of course I do. She's like a little sister I never had." Heat said smiling warmly.

"You guys really look at her as part of your family don't you?" Akita asked smiling at him.

"Everyone on the crew does." he replied with a grin.

"We had a little tragedy recently. One of our nakama was killed. Sid was Zumi's brother. He was a golden lion tamarin. He was a great friend to us all. Everyone misses the little guy." Heat said remembering him with a sad smile.

"How did she take his death?" she asked as Heat sat down beside her.

"Not too well at the start but then she opened up again." he replied and told her everything that happened.

"I see. Her Tama instincts aren't completely dead." Akita mumbled to herself, earning a questioning look from Heat.

"Nothing. Let's go back up." she smirked and got up.

Akita got Izumi training as soon as they got up and made sure she was making progress.

Heat was watching her from the side as he had a weird feeling about her, like she was hiding something very important to do with Izumi.

"You alright?" Kidd asked noticing Heat's distraction.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Nice tattoo." Heat grinned changing the subject quickly.

"Iz is amazing at this." he grinned proudly.

"So what got you watching the sassy bitch like a hawk?" he asked.

"Nothing passes your attention does it?" Heat chuckled but shut up as he received a hard look from Kidd.

"She's hiding something. I can feel it, I just don't know what." he explained.

"I got that feeling too. Why is it that all the people that are connected to Iz are weird and troublesome?" Kidd asked with a sigh.

"She's trouble herself." Heat chuckled.

"That's true." Kidd agreed.

"But this one is different. I can feel that she really cares about Zumi but there's something that's holding her back from reaching out to her completely." Heat said in though as he watched Akita lighting a cigarette.

"You think so?" Kidd asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just a hunch though." Heat added with a sigh.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The first week that they spent on the island, Akita was training Izumi and giving her some useful tips about her heritage and power. It was surprising how much she actually knew about the Tama Tribe. It only made the Kidd Pirates more suspicious about her.

Killer was occasionally flirting with her, however much he was denying the fact. He took a liking to the sarcastic woman.

One of the day's Akita didn't show up at the ship, but they just thought that she had something to do with the wedding so they weren't all that worried abut her.

What was weird though, was that Blaise showed up looking for her at one point in the day.  
"We haven't seen her today, sorry." Izumi said looking up at the tall blond.

"Where did she run off to this time? I swear she does that on purpose." the red eyes man said to himself annoyed.

"Want me to help look for her?" she asked.

"Nah. It's hard to find her when she pulls this shit." he smiled at the tigress and patted her on the head.

"I've got to ask a favour of you actually." Blaise said looking at Kidd.

"What is it?" he asked glaring at him.

"Take her with you. When everything's finished, just take her even if she doesn't want to. She needs to be by her sister. We're all gonna split up and scatter anyway, there's no reason for her to stay on this island. Her father can look after himself and she needs to see the world." he said with a grin.

"What makes you think we'll take her?" Kidd frowned crossing his arms while Izumi was grinning.

"She only needs a push. Piracy is in her blood. Laterz." Blaise said and jumped to the docks.

"I'll kidnap her if I have too." Izumi called after him happily.

Blaise only waved back and walked off.

"Do we have to take her with us?" Heat asked leaning on the railing.

"You don't like Kita?" she asked turning to him curiously. She knew that the woman had an attitude problem and most people didn't get along with her. It's hard to like her and it's hard to get her to like you but when she let you in, she's as loyal as a dog.

"She's just a bit weird. I have a weird feeling about her." he said frowning.

"You can hardly talk Heat. Everyone on this crew is weird. And she gives a weird feeling to most people. She was always like that. I hated her at the start." she said chuckling an surprised him.

"Really? Why?" he asked looking at her.

"She was bossy and however hard I tried to make her go away she just wouldn't. It was a few months after I was abandoned by Nana that I met her. I wasn't in the best mental state but she never gave up on me." Izumi said smiling.

"But then she left as well." he said with a frown.

"She did, but I never expected her to stay. I felt a special connection with her, I still feel it in-fact. I knew that we'd meet again and I wasn't afraid." she said with a warm smile.

"I sincerely hope you're not bi." Kidd called from behind them, making both jump and look back at him.

"Not that kind of connection. A sisterly one. Geez, don't jump to conclusions." Izumi frowned and crossed her arms.

"Good. You're mine and I wont allow anyone to touch you again." he said with a big grin and grabbing her wrist dragged her below deck.

"Possessive." she chuckled and they headed down to his room.

"I have every right to be. You're mine and mine alone." Kidd grinned and crashed his lips onto hers in a heated kiss as he pushed her up against the wall. She moaned at the feeling he gave her. Pleasure shot down from her chest to her lower stomach as he kissed her rougher and with more passion, their lips moving in sync. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer and bit his lower lips, earning a low moan from him. They parted for air and she looked up into his eyes.

"Kidd, I really do like you. I never felt this before. I want to be beside you and see the world together. I won't let anyone hurt you." Izumi said smiling up at him with determination and admiration burning in her eyes for him.

"I feel the same way. I've never met a woman as strong willed as you. I'll show you the world and make your dreams come true, I promise." he said with a grin and leaned in for another kiss.

Their little make out session didn't last long as Jake called everyone for dinner and they reluctantly broke apart.

"What a great timing." Izumi chuckled sarcastically.

"Tell me about it." Kidd grinned and pulled her into a warm hug. He rested his head in the crook of her neck and with a smirk, bit it lightly, making her jump slightly.

"We should go." she said amused and wiped his purple lipstick off her mouth that was smeared there.

"Fine." he chuckled and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers.

"Haha. Never thought the big bad Captain Kidd was so affectionate." she commented amused as they walked down the hallway.

"Don't make me push you into the wall." he glared down warningly.

"You like the rough play huh?" she grinned making him roll his eyes.

"Deal with it." he grinned and bit her ear as they walked in.

"Captain." Jet greeted them, but noticing their hands he smirked and winked at the couple.

"Aww, look at how cute they are." Wire cooed as everyone else congratulated them or said something else.

"Don't make me set fire to your headpiece." Izumi warned with a glare as they sat down and Kidd finally let go of her hand.

"Calm down. We're all just happy for you. Been waiting for this to happen for a while now." Heat said with a grin.

"You have, have you?" she asked unamused.

"The Marines don't seem to pay any attention to us. We haven't seen anyone around here since we arrived." Killer said, changing the subject.

"They're probably busy getting ready for Kita's wedding. It's gonna be interesting to see her in a wedding dress." Izumi said amused.

"Yeah." most of them agreed.

After dinner, Izumi walked off to write and found Heat to talk to him about her new found feelings toward the red heat. He listened to her amused and told her it was normal and how happy he was about it.

. . .

The next day, as Izumi woke up she found herself in her human form, with Kidd curled up beside her, with his arms wrapped around her waist.

She smiled softly and kissed his cheek. He grumbled something in his sleep but didn't wake up. She tried to get out of his hold but it only got stronger.

"Hey Kidd. I wanna get up. Let go." she called softly, turning around to face him.

"Kidd. Wake up." she called again and this time shook him lightly.

He groggily opened his eyes and smiled, seeing Izumi.

"Morning." he said in a husky tone and buried his head in the crook of her neck.

"Good morning. Can I get up now?" she asked amused.

"No. You're too comfy. Staying with me." he murmured into her neck, his breath sending shivers down her spine. He felt them and smirked at her reaction. Moving his head so he had better access, he started to trail kissed down her neck.

"Kidd, not now. I wanna start my day." she said but couldn't help the soft moan she let out.

"This is starting the day." he mumbled and bit her collarbone, drawing a louder moan as he moved to hover above her body.

"You like to be bitten?" he asked grinning, leaning up to look at her face.

"Maybe." she said blushing but never looked away. He loved that, no matter how embarrassed she got, she never dropped eye contact with him.

"Good. I like it too." he said and crashed his lips onto hers. She eagerly responded and he bit her lip, asking for entrance. It took him a little coaxing but she opened her mouth and he pushed his tongue in, exploring her wet cavern. The action made her moan and her body to get hot. Although she didn't quite understand her body's reaction, she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy it.

Izumi pulled him closer and ran her fingers through his hair, tugging at it lightly and drawing moans from him too. It made her happy to hear she had a similar effect on him.

Out of curiosity, Kidd grabbed her tail and tugged on it lightly. It earned him a little squeal and looking down at her, she was blushing pretty badly.

He raised an eyebrow at her and grinned.

"Did that feel good?" he asked and she only nodded with surprise on her face. With a devious smirk and lust swimming in his eyes, he tugged on her tail again, earning a moan from her as she closed her eyes grabbing onto him.

"Stop teasing me. I gotta . . ." she said but stopped as he bit her neck.

"Just enjoy it." he grinned with a husky voice.

"But I have to do things." she tried to argue as be nipped at the skin on her neck and collarbones.

"Do what?" Kidd asked finding it amusing how much she was trying not to moan.

"Things. I . . . please stop this. I dunno how much more I can take." she moaned. He only let out an amused huff and pulled her into a kiss.

"Alright, alright. Go." he chuckled and got off her.

"Thank you." she said and turning into her tiger form, ran out of the room.

It took her a little while and a cold shower to calm down.

"What is he doing to me?" she asked getting dressed in her usual stuff.

Not feeling like yoga, she just walk onto deck to find Heat and Killer. She knew the two of them were usually hanging out by the railing at this time of morning so she walked up to hem smiling.

"Morning." she greeted the two.

"What, no yoga today?" Killer asked amused.

"I don't feel like it." she said with a light blush.

"And why would that be?" Heat asked with a smirk.

"None of your business." she said with a warning glare.

"Nothing to do with Kidd then?" Killer asked with a smirk under his mask, teasing the tigress.

"Shut up." she pouted and leaned on the railing.

"It has everything to do with him." Heat laughed.

They just chatted while everyone got up and Jake called them in for breakfast. It was amusing to see Izumi blush as she made eye contact with Kidd, it just made them wonder what happened between the two. They were smart enough not to ask or even tease her with it though.

After breakfast, they were getting ready to head into town but were stopped by Blaise carrying a cussing Akita on his shoulder onto the ship.

"Let me go you fucker!" she yelled and he threw her onto the deck.

"I told you, if you're not going to do it yourself then I'll make you." he said crossing his arms and sent her a warning glare.

"But I don't want to." she frowned and looked away, sitting up.

"Akita. I love you, I really do. but you were crying for fucks sake. Yes, you were drunk last night and told me all that because of it, but you need to tell her. It's a burden that you need to get rid of. I'm not letting you off this ship until you tell her." he said with a stern voice, leaving no room for arguments.

The Kidd Pirates all watched curiously and Izumi walked up to Akita.

"You alright? What's he talking about?" she asked helping the white haired woman to her feet.

"Do I really have to?" Akita asked in a quiet voice with a sigh. It was interesting to see this confident woman in this state. It made them wonder just what was up.

"Yes." Blaise said in a stern voice.

"We can talk it over in my room." Kidd said and walked off below deck.

"You heard him. Let's go." Blaise said and Izumi pulled Akita along as he and Killer followed as well.

"So what's this about exactly?" Kidd asked as he was sitting on his bed with Izumi, while Killer sat at his desk and the other two on his couch.

"I don't . . ." Akita said looking at Blaise.

"Start at the beginning. Tell them everything you cried to me about last night. It will be better that way." he said smiling at her reassuringly with a hand on her shoulder.

She was silent for a few moments trying to gather her thoughts and figure out how tell her tale.

"Uncle Ray and Roger were great friends with your father Axel, the king and mighty alpha of the Tama Tribe." she said looking at her hands. With a big breath she looked up at Izumi.

"When my mother got pregnant, uncle took her to Tama Island to make sure she was safe. I was born on Tama and for the first six years of my life, raised there as well." she said and let it sink in.

"The queen; Zita and beta of the Tribe, looked at me as her little niece and raised me like her own blood. I learned a lot about their culture and way of life as I was raised in it since birth. My mother left me with them after Roger was executed and went to look for her brother to make sure he was alright." she explained in a soft voice.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Izumi asked frowning as it was a little hard to believe what she was saying.

"I couldn't." Akita sighed.

"I was hurting too much. When my mother finally returned, you were born and she decided to stay on the island as well. She was like a sister to your mother and you were like a little sister to me, you still are. We lived together for a year as I watched you grow, but unknown to me at the time, the Tribe was in great danger. The Government was targeting them and were planning to destroy them." she said in a pained tone.

"But you said your mother died when you were born." Izumi frowned.

"I had to, the truth was more painful." Akita said looking her in the eyes as pain swam in her purple orbs.

"Your mother knew the destiny of the tribe, she was clairvoyant. She entrusted me with you. I already ate my fruit back then and your father helped me get a hang of it. Zita gave me all the books on the Tamas that would help me raise you and told me to look after you." she explained summoning a photo album and stood up to sit beside Izumi on the bed as everyone listened quietly.

"Your mother made this so I can give it to you one day and explain everything. Your parents really loved you and they accepted me and my family despite being human. They raised me like their own, like your sister." she said tearing up as Izumi opened the book to see pictures of her parents and other members of the Tribe, pictures of young Akita playing and everyone being happy.

"The Government ordered a buster call on the island. Rosinante took you, me and dad. Mom wanted to stay and help the tribe. She had to knock dad out so he wouldn't be able to stop her. She died fighting for the Tamas." Akita said as tears quietly slid down her cheek and Izumi pulled her into a warm hug.

"Rosinante took us to Ruby Lagoon. He said he'll take care of you and me. Dad was angry and hurt for loosing my mom but he wanted to come back here. I was hurt too and I couldn't look at you so I came with him. It was only a few years after that he convinced me to go to Ruby and stay with you. I tried so hard but I was hurting so bad. I missed mom and I missed your parents and every one of the Tribe. I only lasted a year and asked dad to bring me back. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't strong enough to stay by your side." Akita said crying into Izumi's shoulder as she just quietly rubbed her back. Kidd and Killer were very surprised by the new found information and that Akita broke down like this. But they guessed it was a traumatic thing for her and she's making an effort for the better.

"I don't blame you for anything. I'm happy that you spent that year with me. Despite rejecting you so much at first I could feel a connection. We are sisters and nothing will change that. Thank you for telling me all this." Izumi said smiling warmly and Akita broke the hug to look at her.

"You're not mad at me?" she asked wiping her tears.

"No. I don't have a reason to be. I'm happy I got my sister back. I won't let you go again." Izumi smiled and Akita returned it softly as well.

"Hey Kidd. I think we found ourselves a new sniper." she said turning back and smirked at him.

"I think we did." he grinned at Akita.

"You want me to go with you?" she asked surprised. Izumi only nodded and grinned at her.

"We need a sniper." Kidd grinned with a shrug.

"I know you must have gone through a lot of pain, believe me I had my fair share of that as well. We'll look after you and if anyone's a prick, I'll just kick their ass." Izumi said grinning.

"I'm the one that's supposed to look after you." Akita shook her head amused and dried up all her tears.

"Says who?" she grinned.

"Come on." Izumi pulled her up and hugged her again.

"Alright, my work here is done." Blaise said grinning as he stood up too, joined by Kidd and Killer.

"Thank you." Akita smiled at him and hugged him.

"It's my job to make sure my best friend is alright. It's been a while since I last saw you cry. It scared me a little." he admitted.

"Sorry. I freaked out a bit." she said and they all walked back onto deck.

"We have a week until the wedding. I have to wear a fucking puffy ass white dress. Kill me now." Akita groaned.

"You never liked dresses, did you?" Izumi chuckled.

"No." she pouted.

"Just deal with it, you can soak it in blood later." Blaise said and it instantly put Akita in a better mood.

"Blood woo." she cheered.

"Good to see you're in a better mood now." Killer said with a smirk under his mask.

"You will never see me break down like that again." she said pointing at him.

"Good." Izumi smiled and Kidd hugged her from behind.

"Why did the Government want the Tamas dead so badly anyway?" Killer asked out of curiosity.

"Oh. The Tribe was actually very friendly and open minded. They were very protective of their loved ones though. A Celestial Dragon killed a young tiger and it nearly triggered a war. Zita managed to calm Axel down enough not to attack them but the damage was done and the Dragons looked down on them. The Government looked more into the Tribe and decided they were too dangerous to live." she explained frowning annoyed.

"I hate the World Government." Izumi grumbled with her ears sticking down.

"I don't blame you. They hide behind their so called 'justice'. It's all bullshit." Blaise frowned and looked out at sea.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

They all went into town after that little drama earlier and Akita took them to her father's shop as he was done with Killer's blade.

"Yeah. It's done and he put it onto the hand piece. I got to test it out and I have to say that it's a vicious fucker." she said chuckling as they walked to the back where Milo was working on a blade.

"Hey dad. Came to get Killer's weapon." she greeted him with a hug as he nodded with a smile and gestured to it.

"Here you go." Akita smiled and handed it back to Killer who put it on and turned it on to test it.

"Amazing work, thank you." he grinned under his mask.

"No problem. He said it's a pleasure to help a friend of mine." Akita grinned.

"We paid him." Izumi pointed out.

"Still." Akita chuckled.

"Anyway. I got work at my shop but I'll be around later. Most likely in the bar I took you to on the first day." she said and walked out after saying their goodbyes.

They wandered around for most of the day and explored as Izumi was excitedly running around, talking about anything.

"You're in a good mood." Heat chuckled watching her walk in front of them, her tail slowly swishing behind her legs.

"I am. I got my sister back and I know what happened in my past and hers. No more secrets, no more cold space between us." she grinned walking backwards.

"Watch it, or you'll fall." Killer chuckled.

"I'll be fine." she said sticking her tongue out and turned back around as they headed into the woods.

"I crave a fight." she said and turned into her full tiger form before anyone could notice the tinge of pain that overtook her eyes at the sudden thought of Sid.

"Knock yourself out." Kidd said and she was off as soon as the words left his mouth.

"You sure it's alright to let her loose like that?" Jake asked raising an eyebrow.

"It'll be fine." Kidd brushed him off and followed after her.

They were amused to see her running around and jumping at anything with teeth and claws. She didn't kill them but fought them off and beat them.

They walked back to the ship for dinner then headed back into town to meet Akita in that bar.

"Kita." Izumi grinned and hugged her.

"Izzy." she smiled and hugged her back.

"So, what are we doing here?" Izumi asked as they settled at a big table with some of the other commanders as they now introduced themselves as civilians.

"We're having some fun." Akita said winking at her.

"Come on guys." she called and all five of them got onto the little stage with their instruments on them.

[What's up Port City?] Blaise called into the microphone grinning as the people in the bar cheered.

It looked like they played music often here and the people knew them well.

[Ready to rock?] he asked and everyone cheered as they started playing. (Back for more by Five Finger Death Punch)

[Let's get it on!  
It's time to get in the game,  
You gotta fight 'til it hurts and then you do it again  
Let's tear it up!  
I'm staying straight to the core, ain't no room for second place, go big or go home!

Rise!  
It's dog eat dog  
Rise!  
Man versus beast  
Rise!  
The strong will survive  
Rise!  
I've got no time for the weak

It's time to rise up, man up, get back up, never been and won't be broken  
Dust off and then come back for more  
You've gotta reach down, dig deep, and break ground,  
Show them all you won't be beaten  
Brush it off and then come back for more!  
Come back for more

It's do or die!  
Time to settle the score, gotta give it all you got and then you give it some more  
There will be blood  
You've gotta fight 'til you break, talk a lot of trash now step up to the plate.] Blaise sang as everyone played the song happily.

As they finished everyone cheered and they played a few more songs. Izumi watched Akita in awe as she played her guitar like a pro and with a lazy smirk on her face, singing back up. She obviously enjoyed what she was doing and loved playing with her friends. The thought that this group of people will break up and go their separate ways in less than a week's time upset Izumi a little bit and made her think of Sid. At least their departure wont be as sudden and ever lasting as hers was with the golden monkey.

She smiled as Akita winked at her and with a sudden thought pulled Kidd up, startling him and he glared down at her.

"What the fuck?" he asked annoyed.

"Come on, let's dance." Izumi grinned up at him tugging at his arm.

"No." he frowned.

"Please." she asked looking over at all the dancing people.

"No." he repeated but with a lighter tone.

"Come on." she chuckled and pulled him away. As soon as his voice softened, even a little bit, she knew she had won.

At first he was a bit awkward with his movements but as she pulled him along with her, he got into it. He was surprised that she was so laid back about the situation and that she danced like that in the midst of strangers.

In the end though, as amusing as it was, she was turning him on slightly so Kidd dragged her back to their table, all while she was laughing.

"Glad you find it funny." he grumbled. She was well aware of what she was doing for once and was amused about it.

"Kita said there's nothing wrong with it. She encouraged it." Izumi said grinning.

"Of course she did." Kidd rolled his eyes.

"You've gotten better at fighting. Looks like her supervision is helping you." Killer commented remembering.

"Yeah. I'm moving more instinctively now than I used to. Feels like the time I broke your blade." she nodded smiling at the masked blond.

"Izzy!" Akita suddenly appeared behind her and hugged her, making her yelp in surprise.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Izumi asked glaring at the white haired woman.

"Nope. You're healthy as can be so nothing like that will happen any time soon." Akita chuckled and sat down beside Killer as Blaise and Amber joined them as well.

"You guys were awesome up there." Heat and Wire grinned.

"Thanks." Blaise smiled, leaning back in his seat.

"Izzy. I want to teach you something. It's very important so we need to meat early tomorrow and head out to the woods. It'll be a lot more quiet and no one will disturb us there." Akita said as she nodded.

"Is it fun sailing the seas? Travelling and having adventures?" Amber asked smiling up at Kidd.

"You bet." he grinned back as she pulled him into a conversation about the sea and piracy.

Noticing their interactions, Izumi's ears flattened and a strange emotion took over her. She was angry, more specifically at Amber. She didn't do anything, she wasn't even touching Kidd, but for some reason that not even Izumi could explain, she didn't like that she was talking to him and he was paying attention to her.

"Hey, hey. Izzy calm down." Akita said with a smirk.

"What's happening?" Izumi asked wide eyed.

"What, inside you? Your Tama instincts are kicking in. Kidd's your mate and you're possessive of him. The fact that he's looking at her is bugging you isn't it?" she explained and leaned on the table.

"Yeah." she admitted with a frown.

"Do something about it then." Akita chuckled, ruffling her hair.

"Are you trying to start a fight?" Killer asked.

"Little 'ol me? Nah. It's a natural reaction. Has she seen him interact with other females since they met?" she asked amused.

"No, actually. The only other female was Nana." Killer said in though.

"Nana? I hope that bitch is dead." Akita frowned with annoyance in her eyes.

"How so?" he asked curiously.

"She's the reason Izzy was so unreachable and she made her hurt. I wasn't allowed to put a bullet in her head when I met her the last time but I won't hold back when I see her next." he simply said and turned back to Izumi who was watching Kidd intently, getting more frustrated by the minute. She was pretty twitchy and it was the last straw when Amber lightly touched Kidd's arm.

"I'm leaving." Izumi said angrily as she stood up abruptly and stomped out.  
"What the fuck? What's wrong with her this time?" Kidd asked turning his glare at Akita.

"Not my doing. You drew that reaction from her. Consider her heritage and act accordingly." she said with her hands up in surrender.

With a last glare, Kidd got up and walked after the annoyed tigress.

"What was that about?" Amber asked raising an eyebrow.

"Love." Akita smirked.

"You're too meddlesome." Killer told her.

"It's fun, and I hardly did anything." she chuckled.

"But what I'm most curious about is what you hide under that mask." she smiled at the blond.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked smirking under the mask but his amusement was evident in his voice.

"I would." she smirked with a mischievous glint in her purple eyes.

"You got to work for it then." he taunted amused.

"That so? What did Izzy have to do for you to show her? She's curious, I'm sure she asked a lot of questions." she asked making him chuckle.

"Boy did she ask a lot of stupid questions. We made a bet though; beat me at sparring and I would show her my face. She broke my blade and I did." he said amused.

"What do I have to do? I'm sure there's no way in hell I can beat you." she asked with a lazy smirk.

"What are you prepared to do?" he asked leaving over and taking a strand of her short white hair between his fingers.

"Nothing you would want, hot shot. Let me think on it and I'll come up with something." she chuckled and got up.

"Your rejection breaks my heart." he said with a hand on his chest and fake hurt in his voice.

"I'm sure you'll survive, 'Massacre Soldier'." she winked at him and walked off.

Kidd caught up to Izumi near the docks and grabbed her by the arm to turn her around.

"Fucking stop. I've been calling your name for ages." he growled annoyed.

"What do you want?" she glared up at him, pulling her arm from his grasp.

"What the fuck happened back there? You just ran out." he asked crossing his arms, demanding an answer.

"I dunno. She pissed me off. I didn't want to get in a fight with one of Kita's friends so I left." she explained looking him in the eyes.

"Why did she piss you off? The sassy bitch said something about your heritage or something." he asked with a sigh.

"She was talking to you and it made me feel weird. Kita said that it was because you're my mate." she said frowning.

"Were you jealous?" he asked chuckling as she blushed at his words.

"Why would I be?" she asked furrowing her eyebrows.

"You obviously were. I think you're just as possessive as I am." he said in a husky voice stepping closer to her.

"Is that so?" she asked smiling up at him as he leaned closer with very little space between them.

"Yes and it's incredibly hot." he grinned and crashed his lips onto hers, pulling her into a heated kiss.

They broke apart as Izumi grinned up at him and they walked back to the ship.

. . .

As Akita said she showed up early in the morning to get Izumi. Although she was swaying a lot a sluing her words.

"You need coffee." Jake said as he spotted the white haired woman being dragged into the galley by Izumi.

"Yes please. She's not a morning person." Izumi said as she sat Akita down and waited for Jake to return with coffee.

"She's here already?" Killer asked walking in.

"Almost. A bit off coffee and she'll be here mentally as well." Izumi said amused.

"I see. I'll go grab Kidd for you. He'll probably want to watch your training." he said.

"Sure." she shrugged and he was off.

"Here you go." Jake smiled as he handed the both of them a mug of coffee each.

"Thanks." Izumi smiled as she poked Akita until she drank.

"You alive now?" Izumi asked as they finished their coffee.

"I think so. Man, I hate mornings." Akita grumbled, glaring into her mug.

"If you're gonna be like this when we need you in a fight, then we have a problem." Kidd said walking into the galley.

"If it's a fight, then it's a whole lot different." she said glancing up at him.

"You'd be more awake?" Izumi asked.

"Yeah. If I get to kill a fucker then that thought in itself wakes me up." she chuckled and the girls got up.

"Good attitude. Now can we get going, I don't have all day." Kidd said grinning at the two.

"Yeah. Let's go. I got the best place in mind." Akita said and led them out.

She led them into the woods and to a little clearing beside a shallow river.

"Wow. This place is beautiful." Izumi said in awe as she looked around.

"Yeah, well we didn't come here for sight seeing." Akita sighed and summoned a book with her purple smoke.

"Let's get down to business. Killer stay out of the way. And Kidd, it'd be helpful if you'd just watch from aside please." she said. Izumi noted how she right out told Killer what to do, but when it came to Kidd it was only a suggestion and a softer tone used.

"What is that I hear? Respect?" Izumi smirked looking at Akita.

"Well he will be my captain in less than a week." she shrugged.

"Got that right." Kidd grinned and sat down under a tree as Killer joined him.

"Alright, let's begin. You already know that because of certain reasons, you weren't raised right. With a human child it's not so curtail to get the proper treatment and education when young, but with a Tama cub it's makes all the difference." Akita started as Izumi was listening to her intently and nodding occasionally to show that she understood.

"Don't mistake yourself for a human." she added.

"Am I that different?" Izumi asked glancing at Kidd.

"It's like the difference between a fishman and human. Except the difference is less physical and more mental." she elaborated.

"It doesn't matter all that much, it's just that you are very dangerous in the condition that you're in. The little episodes you have are very dangerous." she said.

"Episodes? You mean when I snap?" Izumi asked with her ears sticking down.  
"Yes them. Every little Tama gets taught to become one with their inner beasts at a young age so that wouldn't happen. Tamas are a very active race, they need a lot of adrenaline each day, so they used to have little sparring sessions." Akita explained.

"I see. I do have sparring sessions with Killer usually, and I do yoga in the morning." she said smiling.

"The yoga needs to go. It's bad for your health, start with sparring instead." Akita said with a hard tone.

"My mom used to do yoga and some of the little kids wanted to join her. I remember your mother telling them off and saying that its bad for them." she said in thought.

"I see. Whoops." Izumi frowned.

"Aww, now we wont get to see you pull all those strange stretches." Killer said amused and fake disappointed.

"Shut up. She's agile as it is, she doesn't need that." Akita snapped at him and turned back to Izumi.

"I brought you here so you can become one with your inner beast. Sit down." she said and pointed to the middle of the clearing. Izumi did as told and sat down cross legged.

"You need to concentrate. Relax your body, listen to your breathing and heart beat. Find your inner balance. There you will see your beast in a tiger form, you have to fight it and beat it or it will take over you and it won't be pretty, you will lose all self-consciousness." Akita explained looking at the book.

"This may take a while but take your time. We'll be right here when you get back and you will beat it." she sat down in front of her and watched as her body relaxed and her ears stopped twitching to the sounds of her surrounding.

Izumi's breathing evened out and slowed as her eyes stopped moving behind her lids. Her muscles relaxed and her tail stopped twitching as well.

Akita sat in front of her patiently watching her. Kidd and Killer were watching them as well.

"How long will we have to wait?" Kidd whispered a little annoyed.

"I don't know." Killer shrugged.

"Shut it." Akita hissed quietly as she glared back at them. She got up and joined them.

"How long?" Kidd asked glancing at Izumi.

"I have no idea. We'll just have to trust that she can beat it." she said taking out her cigarettes.

"I've seen the Tama children do the same thing. Some got through it quickly, some lost to their beast side and had to start again after a couple of months of intense care from the adults. It always fascinated me to watch because you could see the shift in sides. They change a little and you can feel the difference." she explained looking at Izumi and blowing out the smoke from her lungs.

"You miss them, don't you?" Killer asked.

"Of course I do. I grew up with them for the first six years of my life." she said with an amused sigh.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The three of them got quiet and just opted to watch Izumi. She was silent and looked peaceful.

. . .

From feeling completely relaxed and peaceful, Izumi opened her eyes to find herself in a giant expanding space as far as she could see, a sea of red with orange skys. Looking around, everything was completely still, no wind and there was no sound, until she turned again and found herself face to face with a huge golden tiger.

"You're my beast soul." she said watching it in awe. It only growled back warningly and flattened it's ears.

"I came here to make peace with you." she said but it only managed to make it angrier.

"I don't want to fight you. I know how you feel and what feelings I forced upon you." she said as it came closer with a menacing growl and stance.

Before it could attack her, she sprinted to the side and out of the reach of it's razor sharp claws.

'This won't get me anywhere but Kita didn't say much on how I should beat it.' she thought while running circles with the beast.

'It's aggressive because I was treated badly. It doesn't even trust me because of that. Maybe if I show that it has nothing to fear I will be able to make piece with it.' she thought and turned around with determination burning in her eyes.

'Trying to speak is futile anyway.' she thought dodging it's attacks. She knew exactly how it moved and how it attacked, so she was able to retaliate easily but never fought back.

From dodging and ducking she finally found an opening and leaped forward, bringing her arms around it's neck and pulling it into a hug. It struggled at first but as Izumi hummed softly and didn't let up on her grip, it calmed down a little bit.

"It's alright. It's alright now. We have friends, family, people that will fight for us. We're not alone anymore so we don't need to bare our fangs at the world." she whispered with a calm gentle voice that relaxed the giant tiger in her arms. Letting out a little whine it leaned more into her and rested it's head on top of hers.

"I know it hurts and it's hard to trust them but you have to. I want to believe them, I want to see the world with them, I want to protect them even if it costs me my life. I ask that you do the same." she said and loosened her grip so she could look it in the face.

"Help me achieve those. I can't do it alone. I need you, they need you." she smiled as it let out a soft roar and lowered it's head in submission.

"Thank you." Izumi said doing the same.

"I can't exist without you, same as you can't exist without me." she grinned as her vision blurred and turned black slowly.

. . .

Kidd was the first one to notice Izumi's ears twitching, she then pulled out of her cross legged position and fell backwards panting.

"Izzy!" Akita yelled alarmed and the three of them ran up to her.

"You alright?" Killer asked as they stood over her.

"Get it together. Hey!" Kidd yelled but he was just as worried.

"I'm good. Didn't think this would take so much energy out of me and I didn't even fight." she mumbled opening her eyes slowly.

"Oh yeah, it did usually take a lot out them and they usually passed out." Akita said in thought.

"Thanks for telling us that, bitch." Kidd grumbled.

"I'm okay. I feel a little different though." Izumi said sitting up with Killer's help.

"Different how?" Akita asked carefully.

"I feel more at ease, almost like all my fears were subdued." she replied scratching her head.

"Oh thank fuck." Akita said with a relieved sigh as she relaxed.

"If you loose control at your age, it's very dangerous. We'd never get you back." she said ruffling her hair.

"Let's go back to the ship. You look a little out of it." Killer said a lot more relieved now as Kidd picked her up and she turned into her little cub form.

They chatted amongst themselves on the way back to the ship and walked onto deck.

"I think I'm good now." Izumi said, jumping out of Kidd's arms and turned back to her human form.

"Don't push yourself. The little ones took a week off to rest after this." Akita said from beside her.

"Kita, I'm 20, I think I'll be fine." she chuckled.

"Heads up! A half dead bitch is headed onto the ship!" someone yelled down from the crow's nest.

They all looked to the side as a bloody and swaying Ren walked up them.

"They know. The King knows and Prince betrayed us." she huffed quickly as Akita caught her before she collapsed and helped her lay down on the deck. She had deep cuts all over her body, but the one that stood out most was the one on her stomach. It was deep and if she didn't hold it, her guts would probably fall out.

"Ren? The fuck happened to you?" Akita asked calmer than she should be.

"Ren." Blaise called as he jumped onto the ship too. He looked worried but at the same time very angry.

Izumi walked up to them and knelt down beside Ren. Raising her hand to her stomach, fire engulfed it and she pressed it down on the wound, making her scream in pain.

"Hey!" Blaise yelled alarmed but Killer stopped him from getting involved.

"Good thinking Zumi. The fire will stop her from bleeding out." Heat said as he crouched down as well and looked her over.

"Can you fix her?" Akita asked looking Heat in the eyes. She looked annoyed now.

"Course. But we have to hurry." he said picking her up and they moved to the infirmary.

"Save her." Blaise said sternly.

"I will." Heat nodded.

"What happened?" he asked turning to Ren.

"Don't make her talk." Heat said frowning.

"The King knows about . . . our plan. The queen complained that he was planning . . . something to do with business at the wedding. We all know what . . . 'business' means. She said that Alois was in a lot of meeting with him to do with that. It's obvious he told him . . . everything. I came back here as soon as I could. Two of the Cipher Pol agents . . . attacked me and I could hardly get away with my life. I managed to kill them though. It was Susie and Andy . . . the cheetah devil fruit user and the bade master." Ren said with the last bit of energy.

"Thank you Koala. You did very well. Focus on recovering now and we will take care of it." Blaise said and they all left Heat to do his work.

"What are you planning now Beast?" Akita asked crossing her arms.

As they got to the deck, the rest of the commanders already stood there waiting for orders.

"Send out the signal. We're moving our plan forward. They're at the capital. We need to move before they could attack us. Have troops move through the tunnels to the capital. The commanders and Pirates will move on the surface. We'll strike fast and hard. I don't want anyone left alive." he said as they nodded and Akita summoned a gun that she shot the red signal from.

"Vioris isn't that far if we take the vehicles Ryan once made us. We'll get there in 10 minutes max. Crow go get them ready. Kidd you split into the teams we agreed on and you'll take the towers as we planned." he said and everyone moved to follow his orders, but not without Kidd growling at him for it.

They split into the 6 teams; Killer to wall 1, Jake to wall 2, Heat to wall 3, Wire to wall 4, Jin to wall 5, Izumi to wall 6 and Kidd had the Marine base.

They quickly moved to the old ware house to get the almost car looking vehicles and after a quick explanation, they headed out.

The pirates took over the towers pretty quickly as the commanders headed straight for the palace.

Raising the walls, the citizens got trapped in the capital and by that time the troops had arrived as well. In mere minutes, the city became a bloody massacre field as people tried to run away, screamed, begged and cried for their lives for no avail.

At the palace, the commanders ran into the CP agents and took them on. They couldn't even get past the lobby when they were attacked.

"This is as far as you go." said the leader with a katana in his hand, they identified him as the swordsman Ricky.

"We know about your plan and we plan to stop you." Taku the mist devil fruit user said.

"Good luck with that. We already took care out two of you." Blaise said grinning. Having the speed devil fruit, he quickly took out the sniper agent; Zen.

"That's three." he smirked as he appeared before them again.

"Don't be so cocky. I know your fighting style." Alois said as he stepped up beside the agents.

"You betrayed us." Akita said glaring at him.

"I never betrayed anyone. I just did what I was hired to." he said chuckling.

"Don't tell me . . . you're an agent as well?" Amber asked shocked.

"Less talking more dyeing." Felix the armadillo devil fruit user said as he activated his fruit.

Before anyone could do anything, the door burst in with white flames and Izumi walked in with a huge grin on her face.

"Don't star without me." she said and launched straight at Felix.

Everyone followed suit and Akita attacked Alois while Cody went fro Ricky, Amber for Taku and Blaise just walked past all the fighting.

Alois pulled out his rapier and launched into an attack which Akita dodged. She summoned a gun and tried to shoot him but he dodged it. She wasn't that great at close combat so she just dodged and ducked out of his attacks as he tried to stab the sword through her.

Cody fought with twin swords as Ricky was using a katana. They were pretty equally matched as they slashed at each other, but hardly left any wounds.

Amber used her assassin skills as best she could against Taku who had the mist devil fruit.

Izumi turned into her big tiger form as Felix turned into a full armadillo. It was kind of funny how he curled up into a ball and Izumi rolled him about playing.

Alois managed to get in a few gashes on Akita but she was pretty fast despite his skills. He kept her busy so she wouldn't be able to shoot him, just made her dodge his attacks. This quickly pissed her off and she started to move faster. She threw him off by a kick that he dodged and using that opportunity, she pointed her gun at his forehead and with a vicious smirk, pulled the trigger. Blood and his brain spraying all over the wall and ground as she just chuckled at the sigh and the dull thud his body made falling to the ground.

Cody and Ricky were going at each other quite heavily, trying to land a final blow but countered each other every time. This went on for a long time as both of them were very skilled and resistant. Cody ended up to be faster and managed to cut his arm clean off with his sword in his hand and with another quick slash decapitated him. Akita nodded for him to follow Blaise and he quickly ran off while she watched Izumi's fight.

Amber stood in a fighting stance with twin knifes in her hands as Taku was in his mist form, swirling around her and trying to get a blow in but her defence was perfect. She was smirking as he repeatedly attack her but she just retaliated and left gashes on him using haki.

"Amber, stop playing." Akita called over.

"Let me have my fun." she chuckled.

"Don't underestimate me, bitch." Taku growled and sent another attack at her, this time with more force and speed as it hit her in the side, sending her into a wall.

"That's more like it." she grinned and launched at him. Using her haki, she slashed at the mist and heard him grunting. She kept this up until he turned back, covered in blood and cuts all over his body.

"End of the line." Amber smirked and stabbed her knife into his neck and pulled forward, cutting his jugular and watching as he chocked on his own blood.

Akita send her after Blaise as well and went back to watching Izumi.

Felix had a perfect defence that his devil fruit gave him. He was pretty patient while Izumi just rolled him about and banged him against the wall. It wasn't that long until he unravelled and retaliated against the tiger with his sharp pointy claws. He managed to cut Izumi on the shoulder and side but she saw the opening and attacked his stomach, leaving a few gashes. He used haki and kicked her in the ribs sending her into a wall, surely breaking a few of them.

"Haha. You're good." she chuckled standing up and turned back to human, holding her side.

"You're reckless." Felix replied walking up to her.

"I've been told." Izumi smirked and launched into an attack using her fire this time. It took him by surprise but he was fast enough to roll into a ball and avoid getting grilled. She sent a few fire balls at him and even surrounded him in fire fully but all it managed to do was burn his shell a little. As soon as he unrolled she launched into an attack and this time managed to get a fire ball into his stomach but he shoved her against the wall again and she spat up blood.

"That's enough." Akita said and shot the guy in the head while he was focused on Izumi.

"Hey. That was my opponent." Izumi frowned at the white haired woman as she walked up to her.

"He was going to kill you. He was a Cipher Poll agent Izzy, I only let you fight him to see how you'll do. Let's go now." she said and helped her up.

"Not fair." the tigress mumbled but followed along anyway.

"The commanders are all powerful enough to take on the Cipher Poll. You on the other hand need more training. Your fighting style is reckless." she simply said as Izumi just listened with her ears low.

They walked through the palace and were only met with bloody corpses that the commanders left behind them. Walking to the top floor and into the master bedroom, they found both the commanders and the royal family. They were already dead, with their heads chopped off.

"I see you're done here." Akita said as they turned to them.

"Yeah. By the looks of things the troops are doing great and the pirates are getting some action too." Blaise said looking out of the window.

"I'm gonna go look for Kidd." Izumi said and walked up to the window.

"Sure. Just look after yourself." Akita said with a light smirk.

Nodding, Izumi jumped out of the window and turned into her tiger form half way down so she landed on her feet and ran off.

Kidd and the rest were around the Marine base, finishing off what was left of them.

"Izumi. Where'd you run off to?" Jin asked as he saw her running off towards the centre.

"Oh I went to see Kita." she said grinning and turned back to human.

"What the hell happened?" Heat asked alarmed at her injuries.

"I fought with one of the CP agents but Kita didn't let me finish it." she frowned a tad annoyed.

"Be more careful." Kidd glared at her as he moved her about, looking at all the wounds.

"Yeah I will be. The royals are taken care of and by the looks of things the capital is breathing it's last." she said looking around with a grin.

"Good. Let's head out. We're done here." Kidd called and made their way out.

"You're not gonna stay to watch the fireworks?" Izumi asked with a smirk.

"Fireworks?" Killer asked confused.

"We can't leave the city as it is. It will all go up in flames. It's advised to watch it from the outside though." she said, her smirk widening and making them grin as well.

It wasn't all that long later that everyone cleared out from the capital and Akita stood atop with Izumi on one of the towers.

"You ready?" Akita asked.

"Yup." Izumi grinned and her fists got surrounded with white fire. Akita had previously left a couple of bombs on the tips of buildings that activated with an arrow to them so she was stood with a bow and arrows ready as Izumi spread her fire all over the inside of the walls and drew them inwards. Akita shot the bombs dead in the centre and watched as they exploded. The explosions mixed with Izumi's quickly spreading fire was quite the sight to see as it engulfed the whole capital, leaving nothing intact. The city burned to the ground with white fire as it lit up the night. It could probably be seen all over the island.

Izumi and Akita got to the ground and they all headed back to the port town.

. . .

It was early morning, 3 or 4 when everyone got back so they just went back home to clean up and sleep.

"Come on, you can wash all that off in my bathroom and have Heat look at your injuries." Kidd said pulling her into his room as she only nodded.

Izumi walked into the bathroom and stripped off her blood soaked and ripped clothes. Turning on the shower, she heard Kidd walk in. she quickly turned around and covered her privates with her hands.

"What are you doing?" she asked glaring at him with her ears low.

"Relax. I need to clean up too. Might as well do it together." he said smirking.

"I'll behave." he chuckled after she gave him a look.

"Okay." she sighed and got into the shower. She was blushing but ignoring it, she let the water relax her, washing the blood away. She felt Kidd get in behind her and move close, getting some water himself as well. She was super aware of his closeness and blushed more. The sudden closeness and the fact neither of them were wearing any clothes was making her heart beat fast and feel every little movement he made.

"You need to be more careful." he said looking over her wounds. She had large gashes over her side, shoulder and a few broken ribs.

"I know." Izumi replied and turned around after making herself calm down.

"It was fun though." she grinned up at him, feeling her heart skip a beat, seeing his wet form and his hair falling in his face. Looking at him just made it worse.

"Yeah." he agreed returning the grin and pulled her into a hug. She blushed feeling his strong chest on her bare skin and his muscles on his back as she stroked her hand down.

"Wash up and get fixed." he whispered in her ear amused in a husky tone, sending a shiver down her spine but let go of her. Before she could recover from it though, Kidd pulled her face up and crashed his lips onto hers. Izumi eagerly kissed back as she could feel the sparks spread from her lips and heat pool in her stomach as she almost melted in his arms.

"Come on." he chuckled proud of the effect he had on her. He let go because of the wounds on her, usually he would have done so much more.

They quickly cleaned up and grabbing clean clothes Izumi ran off to Heat.

He happily talked about the massacre as well while he patched her up but told her to look after herself better as well.


End file.
